Lottery ticket pulled from trash leads to $250K win

Sometimes it pays to not take out the trash.

That’s what Andrew Hunter of Dawsonville, Ga., found out earlier this week. The 24-year-old server at a Taco Mac, a Georgia restaurant chain, had thrown out a lottery ticket he thought was worthless, but then had a second thought.

“I didn’t realize you could win $3 for matching one number plus the Mega Ball,” he said, according to galottery.com, the website of the Georgia Lottery.

So Hunter reached into the trash, took the ticket back out, and took it to a convenience store in Cumming, near the Taco Mac where he works. He reinvested the $3 in three $1 Mega Millions tickets.

In Tuesday’s drawing, one of the three won him $250,000.

“I would have never bought that ticket if I hadn’t pulled the other ticket out of the trash,” Hunter said. “I don’t think it’s really hit me yet.”

Hunter said he plans to invest most of his winnings.