COLUMBIA, SC (January 27, 2026) – A lottery player in the small town of Aynor, SC, in Horry County, needed to sit down after winning $500,000.
“My knees went weak,” the woman told South Carolina Education Lottery officials.
She says she paid $10 for the winning Ruby Red Treasures scratch-off at the Tiger Mart #11 at 2841 Hwy. 501 in Aynor.
In a hurry, she scratched off just the barcode on the ticket and scanned it in the store. When the message read “Claim at Lottery," she was hopeful it was a $1,000 win. She scratched the rest of the card to reveal the half-a-million-dollar prize.
The winner, who does not wish to be identified, described the moment as “awesome.”
“This win gives me a sense of comfort that is unbelievable,” she said.
And she’s not the only big winner in Aynor. Down the street at the Aynor Food Mart a player won $500,000 in 2023.
Odds of winning $500,000 in the Ruby Red Treasures game are 1 in 1,176,000. Two more top prizes remain in the game.
Tiger Mart #11 in Aynor received a commission of $5,000 for selling the claimed ticket.
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