Elsa woman wins $1 million lottery scratch-off game

AUSTIN - An Elsa woman won a million dollars in lottery money, the Texas Lottery Commission announced Wednesday.

Esperanza Farias, 72, purchased the winning scratch-off ticket at an El Tigre Food Store in La Blanca with her daughter last week, according to a news release from the commission.

The woman traveled to Austin to collect her winnings Monday.

Efforts to contact her Wednesday were unsuccessful, but Farias recounted her winning purchase to lottery representatives.

A man standing in line in front of her had just purchased the last Weekly Grand ticket in a case and won $50, she told the commission. She approached the counter and the cashier opened a new pack for her. She then purchased two of the same kind, she said.

"I bought the first two tickets in the new pack," Farias told Texas Lottery representatives. "One of those had the grand prize."

Farias said it was a strange coincidence that she purchased the ticket on March 16 - her husband passed away Jan. 16 and was born in the year 1916.

She told lottery representatives she planned to use the $1,040,000 to help her son Joel finish remodeling his home. She also wants to help her other five sons and two daughters financially.

"If you can help your children, then you should," she said in the news release. "Give what you have with love, even if it's very little, and God will remember it."

Farias also plans to visit the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan Del Valle-National Shrine to give thanks.

"I'm a person of great faith and I believe I have to give thanks again because I'm a cancer survivor, and now I've lived long enough to experience this, too," she said.

Farias said she plans to keep buying lottery tickets every week.

"My favorites are the scratch-offs, but I still buy two Lotto Texas tickets every week," she said. "Maybe a Lotto ticket will make me come back to Austin one day."

Weekly Grand is one of the Texas Lottery's most popular games, according to the commission's news release.

The El Tigre Food Store, located at 1342 E. Highway 107, La Blanca, is eligible to receive a bonus of $10,000 for selling the winning ticket.

Wednesday's Lotto Texas jackpot was worth an estimated $6 million. Friday's Mega Millions jackpot is worth an estimated $34 million.