Charles Stanton, a 55-year-old New Hampton man, is currently having a mixed bag of emotions! While he was mourning his father’s death, two days later, he unexpectedly won a $500,000 jackpot. He expressed his happiness and believed that his father’s blessings had led him to it.
According to a press release on the Iowa Lottery‘s official website, Charles Stanton won a top prize in the Iowa Lottery’s 500X scratch game. He believes his father, Duane, had a significant role in his big triumph. “I know he guided me there that day,” Stanton said on Thursday as he arrived to claim his prize in Clive at the lottery’s main office. “It was his way of telling me everything’s going to be OK,” he further added.
Two days after his father died, Charles Stanton of New Hampton bought a 500X scratch ticket on a drive and won $500,000. He believes it was a nod from his dad: “His way of telling me everything’s going to be OK.” Join us in congratulating Charles. 💙 pic.twitter.com/R3mfJKZlfC
— Iowa Lottery (@ialottery) April 23, 2026
The release further states that the 55-year-old stepped out on a Sunday morning for a drive and stopped at Love’s Travel Stop for something to eat, where he also bought a lottery ticket. He then recalled scratching it off, prompting him to visit the main lottery office to claim a $500,000 winning ticket. Stanton, unsure, asked the cashier whether the scanner was working and whether another was available.
He examined the ticket on a second scanner and double-checked the result with the company’s mobile app on his phone. “That’s when it sank in: I really did win this,” he said. Stanton, who owns an electrical contracting business started by his father 51 years ago, kept the news private for nine days while spending time with family. He and his wife, Marla, later traveled to claim the prize.
Going further, Stanton plans to use a part of his lottery winnings on his hobby farm and intends to take time and wait before making any bigger decisions. On a concluding note, he jokingly mentioned that some part of his lottery might go toward keeping up a tradition during his annual golf trip. He said, “I’d like to start a little trust fund to buy at least the first round at the whiskey bar for a few years.”
The 500X scratch game is a $50 scratch-off lottery game offering 12 grand prizes worth $500,000 and 39 additional prizes of $25,000, with overall odds of winning 1 in 4.33.
It is worth mentioning that lottery prizes have become quite popular these days. According to a report in The New York Times, a dozen jackpots in the United States have crossed $1 billion since 2016. It further suggests that there were three jackpots over $1 billion in 2024 alone. Meanwhile, the $1.817 billion Powerball jackpot won on Christmas Eve in 2025 ranks as the second-largest lottery prize in U.S. history.
The largest Powerball jackpot, worth $2.04 billion, was won in a drawing on Nov. 7, 2022, and the ticket was sold at Joe’s Service Center in Atlanta, California. Later, on Feb. 14, 2023, without divulging many details on the winner’s request, California Lottery officials revealed that his name was Edwain Castro.
