Iowa man wins small lotto prize but gets big check

DES MOINES, Iowa – Lottery officials put a big check in the hands of a small winner in Iowa.

Tyler Heep says he used some spare change last week to buy a couple of scratch-offs in Des Moines. Turns out, he wasn’t so lucky and only scored a $1 prize.

Instead of tossing the ticket, the “jackpot joker” cashed it in at the state’s lottery headquarters.

When Heep asked for his “big check” he was surprised to see what lottery officials had in mind.

“They decided to treat me like a million dollar winner,” Heep explained. “The guy came down the stairs and they took me into the back room where the camera was with the Iowa Lottery logo. Sure enough, they wrote me the one dollar check and had me hold it up and took the picture.”

So what did Heep do with “all that money?”  Well, he paid for a gallon of gas.

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