Ray Bachman, from Nampa was thrilled to win the last $30,000 top prize on the Scratch Game Slingo 3X. And while this was a big day in his life, he was more excited to share the story of when he won the first time ÔÇô way back in 1990 when the Lottery was still in its infancy.
Bachman and his wife picked up the Slingo 3X ticket the other night from the Tobacco Connection on 11th Avenue in Nampa. After playing the game and winning the $30,000 prize, he shared with us a similar story about winning from 29 years ago.
1990 was the second year the Lottery had offered Scratch tickets. Bachman and his wife had stopped by a convenience store where they picked up everything they needed for work the next day. As part of his daily routine, Bachman picked up $10 worth of $1 Scratch Tickets from the Idaho Lottery, five Double Holiday Bucks and five Idaho Silver and Gold tickets. He tucked them into his coat pocket. Hours later, he remembered buying the tickets, but could not recall where he'd put them. He searched his entire house for hours.
After some time, he found them again and played them, starting with the Double Holiday Bucks.
"I won $10 on those first five, so I was pretty excited I'd won my money back," said Bachman. "Then I started playing the Silver and Gold tickets."
Before going further, let us describe Game #14, Idaho Silver and Gold from 1990. The game debuted in the marketplace on Thursday, October 25, 1990. The occasion was marked by a media event at the Sunshine Mining Mint in Coeur d'Alene, where, then Director, Wally Hedrick proclaimed, "There's gold and silver in them thar Idaho Lottery tickets!"
Hedrick, with help from officials from Sunshine Mining, one of the state's largest silver producers, introduced the game which offered Sunshine gold and silver coins as well as cash prizes. In the game, players could win $4,000 cash plus an ounce of either silver or gold depending on the prize. The game instructions were simple. Match 3 "Gold" on the ticket and you win $4,000 plus one ounce of gold. Match 3 "Silver" and win $400 plus one ounce of silver. Players could also win other cash prizes of varying amounts.
Back to Ray Bachman. In 1990, his first four Idaho Silver and Gold tickets were non-winners. Then he got to the fifth ticket.
"I scratched it and I saw 'Gold, Gold, Silver, Silver' and my heart raced. Then I scratched the last spot and saw the 'G' and I knew it. I hollered to my wife we'd won $4,000 and gold!" described Bachman, his recollection of the event as clear as if he'd won it today. "And best of all, after all these years, I still have the one ounce coin. It's worth a lot more. Back then it was worth about $219, today, it is worth over $1,400!"
Bachman placed the winnings from 1990 into a rainy day fund. With the Slingo 3X win, Bachman's tune hadn't changed. He planned to put his winnings from Slingo 3X directly into the bank.
"I'm just a happy-go-lucky fella," said Bachman.
So when you win, keep in mind it may not necessarily be how much you win, but that you won. It may or may not be an amount that's life changing, but one thing is for certain ÔÇô you never forget winning for the first time. Or the second.
Congratulations to Mr. Happy-Go-Lucky, Ray Bachman of Nampa. And as he departed from the Lottery offices, he assured us he would be back to visit again with another winning ticket.
