Shannon Fernandez thought she won $5,000 until she finally looked at the slip the clerk printed for her when he said “I’m flabbergasted” after scanning her winning ticket
Olympia, WA (March 7, 2025) – One of Shannon Fernandez’s guilty pleasures is watching the reality TV show “My Lottery Dream Home,” but little did she know she’d be the one buying a new home thanks to an interesting tidbit she learned from watching the show. That insight ended up turning into a $250,000 win from Washington’s Lottery for the Spokane, Washington resident.
“The show just happens to profile a lot of people who win playing $10 Scratch games, so I figured that should be the type of ticket I buy,” said Fernandez. “There was a sparkly new $10 ticket that caught my eye, and that’s the one I bought. Turned out I picked right!”
Fernandez bought two “Diamond Crossword” Scratch tickets from the Lottery Vending Machine at the Walmart located at 9212 N Colton St in Spokane. She put the tickets in her purse and then went about her day, only to sit down to play once she got home.
The game is a crossword format, where a player scratches the “Your 18 Letters” box to reveal 18 letters, then scratches only the corresponding letters in the crossword puzzle that match the 18 letters revealed. If a player matches three or more complete words, they win the prize indicated.
“At first, I counted 10 complete words, which is $1,000 prize and that’s pretty cool since the most I’d ever won before is maybe $150,” said Fernandez. “Then I kept looking and found an eleventh word, which meant a $5,000 prize. I was so excited that I called my husband, and we planned to celebrate later that night with a nice dinner.”
Fernandez then took her winning ticket to her local Safeway to have an associate scan it to confirm her win, and when the clerk did so, she said his eyes grew wide and he simply said, “I’m flabbergasted!” He handed her the ticket back and a prize confirmation slip and told her that she needed to go to the Washington’s Lottery Department of Imagination store at Northtown Mall to claim a prize that large, still thinking it was $5,000.
“He didn’t actually say the amount out loud,” said Fernandez. “I just put the ticket and slip in my purse and drove off. It wasn’t until I got to the mall and walked into the lottery store that I looked at the slip and nearly fainted when I saw that it said $250,000 on it. I guess that twelfth word was somewhere on the ticket after all!”
Once officials at the Northtown Mall store re-confirmed the win, Fernandez called her husband again, who was equally as flabbergasted as the clerk.
The couple had already been discussing buying a new home, and this win means they’re able to afford something more like their very own “dream home.”
Washington’s Lottery offers Scratch games priced between $1 and $30, each with varying prize amounts. The number of actual prizes available in a game may vary based on the number of tickets printed, tested, distributed, sold, and number of prizes claimed. Players can find Washington’s Lottery retail locations here.
Who Benefits
Since 1982, Washington’s Lottery has generated more than $5.3 billion to support several important state programs. The Lottery’s primary beneficiary is the Washington Opportunity Pathways Account (WOPA), which provides much-needed funding for programs including early childhood education, the Washington College Grant and College Bound program, Washington Award for Vocational Excellence, GET Ready for Math and Science scholarships, and more. These programs help provide critical services and support to thousands of Washington residents each year and help improve their lives.
Beneficiary Fact
Washington’s Lottery is proud to be a financial supporter of the Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC), which administers state financial aid programs. WSAC leads a variety of initiatives to increase educational opportunities for students, families, and educators across the state, with a particular focus on increasing equity by reaching communities of color and students from low-income families. The Lottery also proudly supports the state’s Early Childhood Education & Assistance Program (ECEAP), a state-funded pre-K program that helps children become kindergarten-ready by building early skills in reading, math and science. The program works closely with parents to support their children’s health and education.
About Washington’s Lottery: The state’s Lottery offers consumers several types of games, including Mega Millions, Powerball, Lotto, Hit 5, Match 4, Pick 3, Cash POP, Daily Keno and Scratch. For more information, visit www.walottery.com or find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @walottery.
Keep it fun. Know your limit. Washington’s Lottery is an advocate for responsible gaming and collaborates with the Evergreen Council for Problem Gambling to provide resources for those in need. More information is available at www.walottery.com/Responsibility.
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Press Contacts
Dan Miller (Curator on behalf of Washington’s Lottery)
E-mail: dan.miller@curatorpr.com
Xiamara Garza (Curator on behalf of Washington’s Lottery)
E-mail: xiamara.garza@curatorpr.com