Phillipsburg Resident's Morning Routine leads to $10,000 Cash Prize

Every morning at 4 a.m., Ryan Horner stops by a local convenience store for coffee and to buy a few lottery tickets.  On December 26, the Phillipsburg resident continued with his usual routine only this time, he started his day winning a $10,000 cash prize playing the Kansas Lottery's $100,000 Crossword instant scratch game!

"I've been very lucky playing Kansas Lottery games," said Horner.  "In 2010, I won a total of $10,635 on six different 6-Spot Keno tickets.  When I bought the Crossword ticket, I didn't think I would have a winner since it was the first ticket off the roll."

Much to his surprise, Horner revealed 13 words on his $10 ticket, winning a $10,000 cash prize.

"Initially, I thought I had won $500," said Horner.  "I counted my words again and realized I had missed a word and thought it was a $1,000 winner.  I went out to my truck and looked at the ticket again and realized it was worth $10,000.  To be sure, I went back inside the store and wrote all the words I had found on a piece of paper.  I also had the store clerk call the Lottery to have the ticket verified."

Once Lottery officials confirmed his big win, Horner signed the back of his ticket and put it in his piggy bank for safekeeping.

Horner, who owns and operates RH Plumbing, was undecided how he would spend his winnings.  The winning ticket was purchased at 1st Stop 6208, 695 State Ave. in Phillipsburg.