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A Columbia man has about 1,000,000 more reasons to be grateful this Thanksgiving holiday.
Wednesday morning Robert Barnes, 70, turned in a winning Mega Match 6 ticket from Tuesday night's drawing.
"I was nervous. I couldn't really sleep much because I just couldn't believe I won," says Barnes.
The retired Army veteran got all the proof he need when he turned in the winning ticket Wednesday morning. He picked up a check worth $925,010. After taxes Barnes will get roughly $630,000. He bought the winning ticket at a Piggly Wiggly store on Garners Ferry Road.
Barnes plans to pay off his house, his car, buy his wife a new diamond ring, and says he will give $10,000 to each of his 5 children.
Next month, Barnes and his wife are going to Louisiana and may consider buying a house there to be closer to one of their children.
Barnes has been a regular lottery player ever since the South Carolina Education Lottery started earlier this decade. He estimates he dumped $50,000 into lottery tickets over the years.
"But, I got it all back and then some," says Barnes. "I can smile about that."
The rolling jackpot game's last winner was Sept. 30. The Mega Match 6 game started in February and has a minimum jackpot of $550,000. The largest prize was $1.4 million, won Aug. 29 by a North Carolina man.
