Lincoln – Stephanie Schwaderer of Alliance won $262,000 playing Nebraska Pick 5 from the Nebraska Lottery.
Schwaderer purchased her ticket at J & J’s Pit Stop at 1308 W 3rd Street in Alliance. The ticket contained one play for the March 4 drawing with the winning numbers 12, 21, 22, 24 and 27.
When she saw what appeared to be her winning numbers drawn, Schwaderer said she didn’t believe it.
“I initially thought it was some sick cosmic joke,” she said. “I scanned it with the app on my phone and started yelling, ‘We just won the lottery.’”
She and her husband John drove back into town to scan the ticket at a convenience store to make sure they were seeing it right. They got confirmation and Schwaderer signed her ticket, wrapped it in a $2 bill and tucked the ticket into her wallet.
Schwaderer said they’ll be using their winnings to pay off their farm and to build a bakery where she’ll make breads, cinnamon rolls, muffins and more.
After the realization set in that she’d won, Schwaderer said it was an amazing feeling.
“I kind of freaked out,” she said. “Then I just vibrated for like 36 hours.”
Nebraska Pick 5 is Nebraska’s unique Lottery game: all the proceeds from Nebraska Pick 5 stay in Nebraska, and all the winning tickets are sold in Nebraska at Nebraska Lottery Lotto game retailers. The odds of winning the Nebraska Pick 5 jackpot, which starts at $50,000 and grows by $4,000 each drawing that is not won, are 1 in 501,942 while the overall odds of winning a prize in the game, which has drawings seven nights a week, are 1 in 8.
The mission of the Nebraska Lottery is to generate proceeds for good causes while providing quality entertainment options to Nebraskans. Over $803 million has been raised for the Nebraska Lottery’s beneficiary funds since the Lottery began in 1993. All 93 counties in Nebraska have benefited from projects funded with these Nebraska Lottery proceeds.