On Monday morning at 8:00 a.m. on the dot, Chad and Kristen Pomerenke burst into the Kansas Lottery offices the moment the doors opened. The couple was eager to finally cash in their $50,000 top prize on the $5 Rivalry Riches instant ticket that they won on Saturday night. 

“I don’t think we slept much this past weekend,” Chad Pomerenke said with a laugh. “Now that we’ve finally turned the ticket in, I think we can relax enough for a nap!” 

Chad Pomerenke typically is a draw game player. He’s a big fan of the $10 Play Sampler, which gets players a ticket for multiple draw games all at once. It has only been in the past few months that Chad started playing instant tickets. 

“I started playing some scratch games recently, and I typically play the $20 tickets,” Pomerenke said. “But this time I thought I would get a lower price ticket so I could buy more and play with my wife at home.” 

The evening almost got away from the couple before they remembered that Chad had brought home seven Rivalry Riches tickets. They planned on scratching three tickets apiece, and whoever won the most got to scratch the last ticket. 

“Kristen scratched off the big ticket. She played the game and it was actually the very last prize spot on the ticket that had the $50,000 winning symbol,” Pomerenke added. “She didn’t say anything at first, but then she turned white and handed me the ticket to see. She won the contest that night for sure.” 

The only issue with the prize was the location of the winning symbol! “My wife and I are both Kansas State graduates, and both of our kids also attend school in Manhattan,” Pomerenke said. “Unfortunately, the winning symbol was on the KU side of the ticket, but I think we can live with that, all things considered.” 

The winning ticket was sold at Fuel Expresso 23 at 15310 U.S. 169 in Olathe. There are no top prizes left in the $5 Rivalry Riches game, therefore the game has been ended by the Lottery. 

Players are invited to submit all their winning and non-winning tickets in the Kansas Lottery PlayOn^® Players Loyalty program to earn points for drawing entries and a chance to win cash and other prizes!  PlayOn® is a registered trademark of Pollard Banknote Limited used under license.