01/17/12 For the second time in just over a month, a Hoosier Lottery player has hit it big in Warsaw, Ind. A Plymouth man’s day took a dramatic turn last Wednesday when he purchased a $2 million winning Hoosier Lottery Scratch-off at a Warsaw convenience store.
While paying for a pop at Lassus Handy Dandy at 1900 Plaza Drive in Warsaw, Rick Cooper decided on a whim to buy a Hoosier Lottery $2,000,000 MONOPOLY™ Scratch-off that ended up being one of the game’s three top prizes!
After scratching the $2 million prize, Cooper grabbed his wife and the pair immediately headed to Hoosier Lottery Headquarters in Indianapolis to claim their winnings.
“I woke up that morning and had oatmeal for breakfast,” said Cooper as he presented his ticket at Hoosier Lottery Headquarters. “It was just a normal day until this happened.”
Cooper lives in Plymouth with his wife, April, and their seven children (ages two to 14). He is a repair tech for Sands Office Equipment in Warsaw near the convenience store where he purchased his lucky ticket. April is an activities director at Miller’s Merry Manor long-term care facility.
The couple is excited to be debt free and financially comfortable. They are a hard working couple. Both enjoy their jobs and plan to keep working the same as they have been.
“We don’t have a lot of whims and desires,” said April Cooper. “We don’t have caviar or champagne tastes. We don’t need to eat steak.”
The couple says they plan to meet with a financial advisor before doing anything. As they claimed their winnings they were having a hard time getting their heads around what it means to suddenly have $2 million. They were sure of only two things.
“We want to buy a house and take our kids to Disney World,” said Rick Cooper.
Lassus Handy Dandy , where Cooper purchased his $2 million ticket, is the second Warsaw retailer to sell a winning ticket worth at least $1 million in recent weeks. 66 Center at 2518 E. Center Street in Warsaw sold a $1 million winning ticket in the Dec. 6, 2011 Mega Millions® drawing. That prize was claimed by Ron Redden of Winona Lake.
The Coopers are the second lucky winners to claim a $2 million prize on the $2,000,000 MONOPOLY™ Scratch-off. They claimed their prize almost a year-to-the-day after Jose Carrillo-Perez of Bluffton claimed the game’s first $2 million prize January 10, 2011. He purchased his lucky ticket at a Speedway in Fort Wayne.
One $2 million top prize remains unclaimed on the $2,000,000 MONOPOLY™ Scratch-off at this time.
The Hoosier Lottery is committed to providing innovative and entertaining lottery games for the benefit of the citizens of Indiana. In fiscal year 2011, the Hoosier Lottery generated $188 million in net income which was used to significantly reduce the motor vehicle excise tax for all Hoosier drivers and also supported the pension funds for retired Indiana teachers, police and firefighters. Player prizes for the fiscal year totaled $495 million and $56 million was earned by Indiana retailers on the sale of Hoosier Lottery products.
Since its inception in 1989, the Hoosier Lottery has produced nearly $4 billion in net income for the citizens of Indiana, nearly $1 billion in commissions and bonuses for participating Indiana retailers, and has paid out more than $8.4 billion in player prizes.
The Hoosier Lottery reminds all players to play responsibly and to always sign the back of their tickets.
