Man throws away 100,000 pounds winning ticket by mistake

LONDON - A Briton threw away a scratchcard that had won 100,000 pounds as he misunderstood the game. By the time he realised his mistake and rushed to take it out from the bin, the scratchcard had been incinerated.

Thirtyeight-year-old Cemal Celikkanat was under the impression that three 100,000 pound symbols on Camelot’s 100,000 pounds Blue game had to be in a line to win.

He didn’t realise that he had hit the jackpot till a colleague told him the rules the next day, by which time he had already thrown away the winning ticket, Daily Mail reported Friday.

Celikkanat, from Dronfield, near Sheffield, rushed to the shop from where he bought the ticket to check the bin, but he was informed that it had been emptied and the contents taken to a local incinerator.

He did get the serial number of the winning card from the shopkeeper, but was told he couldn’t be paid without a ticket.

“When I found out I felt dizzy and dropped to my knees - it was like being hit over the head… I was disappointed not to complete the row although there was another £100,000 symbol on a different grid,” Celikkanant was quoted as saying.

“I didn’t realise what I had done until the following day when a colleague asked me to pick up her 25 pounds scratchcard winnings. I noticed the 25 pounds symbols were not in a line but she told me she had still won. That’s when the penny dropped. I threw away 100,000 pounds. I feel so terrible, I think about it every day, it’s had a massive impact on my life.”