Inside The Moment A Guilford Resident Won A Massive Lottery Prize

June 10, 2025 — Keith Staschke thought his CT Lottery scratch-off ticket was a bust until he reached the bottom.

A regular CT Lottery player since he was 18, Staschke's luck turned around when he revealed 10 complete words on the bottom of his crossword-style scratch-off game and won the grand prize of $500,000.

"The first thought I had was retirement… pushing that up by a few months," Staschke recently told the CT Lottery. "I’m definitely a happy guy—and I’ve got a happy wife too!"

Staschke came in to Guilford Xtra Mart on Boston Post Road to purchase some lottery tickets, the CT Lottery said. As a fan of crossword-style games, he purchased the $500,000 CA$HWORD 2nd Edition - the eventual winner - for $30.

According to the CT Lottery, there are just three $500,000-winning tickets out of 1.5 million tickets of the game. The CT Lottery said Staschke is the first grand prize winner of the newly-released game.

The overall odds for the game are 1 in 2.78, the CT Lottery said.

Guilford Xtra Mart will receive a $5,000 bonus since the business is a CT Lottery retail partner.