A MAN who won a £500k on the National Lottery has shared his secret to success.
Matthew Harding bagged himself the hefty cash prize after buying the scratchcard from a shop he worked at in Nottingham.
Starting to scratch away at the Pink Multiplier Lotto ticket, he went into complete shock as he saw the amount of zeros appearing.
And now the shop assistant has told of his little hack which doubles his chances of winning each time.
Matthew said: “I treat myself to a scratchcard or two every month after payday and scratch them on my way home.
“I have seen a few customers in the shop winning £20 or £40 here and there so I thought I would give this particular one a go.
“I have always been told to buy two in a row as you are more likely to win.
“There may be no real logic in that but that’s exactly what I do – I always buy them in a set.
“I had only got to the curb of the shop when I scratched off a ‘five’ and thought, ‘ah, it’s a fiver’.
“Then I scratched a ‘zero’ and then another ‘zero’ and then, to my astonishment, a ‘K’ at the end. I was in total disbelief.
“I grabbed a random person off the street to confirm it was real and I wasn’t seeing things.
“They said: ‘Yes, it is £500K, congratulations!’.”
Barely being able to contain his excitement, Matthew ran back to work, signed the back of ticket and called the National Lottery.
He then put the winning ticket in his sock to keep it safe before heading home to tell his partner John Drabble the news.
John said: “I thought he was having a heart attack. He was pale, clammy and shaking – he looked like he was going to pass out.
“He couldn’t speak at first, then he said he needed to get something out of his sock.
“That’s when he took the scratchcard out. We both just kept looking at each other, gasping ‘NO!’ in total disbelief.”
After calling the Lotto to confirm the win, Matt and John started the celebrations immediately.
Matt said: “We drank three bottles of champagne!
“I did not sleep a wink, not because of the champagne but because of the win. I was still in such shock.”
Still unsure on what to spend the money on, Matt said it’s currently sat in the bank with their most expensive purchase so far being a £98 mobile printer.
However, the couple said they would love to buy a holiday home and get married.
The scratchcard costs £2 and has prizes ranging from £2 up to £500,000.
