For the Renton Reporter

Scott Stockman of Renton and father of a 1-year-old girl, bowls in a league at Sun Villa Lanes in Bellevue every other week. But something he doesn’t do regularly is play the Lottery.

“I rarely play [the Lottery],” Stockman said, “Maybe once every six months.” This makes the win even more special for Stockman, who won $1,000 per week for life playing Lucky for Life, a Scratch game from Washington’s Lottery.

Last Saturday, Stockman was at the bowling alley with his team. On a whim, he and a teammate decided to buy a few Scratch tickets.

“I bought three Lucky for Life tickets and won $3, so my teammate decided to buy a different ticket. Later I went back and bought more of the Lucky for Life tickets, and that’s when I got the winning ticket.”

“At first I thought I won $52,000 total,” Stockman said. “Then I scratched more of the ticket and realized I won $52,000 a year for life!”

This is not the first big winner for Sun Villa Lanes. In 1999 the bowling alley sold a $6 million Lotto ticket to Patricia Christian of Bellevue. Then in 2008, another Bellevue family bought an $8.9 million Lotto ticket there.

Stockman, an employee of Nordstrom, said he will continue to work there, despite winning the large prize. When asked what they would do with the money, he replied, “Our first 10 percent [of the prize money] will go to our church, and then we’ll pay off our debt. We’re excited that the money will open up opportunities to help people.”

The winning ticket was sold at Sun Villa Lanes on 148th Avenue Southeast in Bellevue.

(This is a press release from the Washington Lottery.)