From Wedding Vows to Wow: Shepherdsville Woman Hits $65K on Kentucky Lottery Reef Riches
RaspaPro Summary
A Shepherdsville woman won $65,216.59 playing the Kentucky Lottery's Reef Riches online game. She plans to use her winnings, which totaled $47,282.03 after taxes, to purchase her late grandmother's house. The Kentucky Lottery offers online play and has 3,500 retailers statewide.
Key points
- •A player won $65,216.59 playing an online game.
- •The net winnings after taxes amounted to $47,282.03.
- •The player intends to use the funds to buy a family home.
- •Kentucky Lottery provides online gaming and has 3,500 retailers.
- •In a recent year, the Kentucky Lottery paid out nearly $1.8 billion in prizes.
Why it matters
This news highlights that significant prizes can be won through online lottery games. It also shows how lottery winnings can have a personal impact, like helping to achieve family goals.
Official release
A Shepherdsville woman said she was typing up the wedding ceremony for her best friend, whom she was to marry when she opened the Kentucky Lottery app for her usual weekly play.
“My computer had to reboot so I decided to play online while I waited,” Misti Pagan said. “I was just scrolling, and I picked Reef Riches. I’ve won small amounts before, so I didn’t think anything of it.”
But then the screen lit up with a number she almost couldn’t believe: $65,216.59.
“My heart dropped. I felt like I was going to pass out,” she said. “I yelled to my fiancé, ‘Babe, I think I just won sixty-five thousand dollars!’ He paused his movie and said, ‘I’ll believe it when I see the check.’”
It didn’t take long for the win to sink in. “Not even five minutes later I got the confirmation email,” she said. “That’s when I knew it was real.”
The win came in the middle of what was already a big week: wedding prep for her best friend, frantic last‑minute tasks and an unexpected jackpot.
“I called her right away. Everyone’s running around getting things ready, and I’m like, ‘You’re not going to believe what just happened!’” she laughed.
Two years ago, Pagan’s grandmother passed away, and the family has been hoping to buy her grandmother’s house – an original Sears, Roebuck & Co. 1940 model in Sandusky, Ohio.
“That’s exactly what we’re doing with this,” she said. “It means everything to be able to buy her house.”
Pagan left the Kentucky Lottery with $47,282.03 after taxes.
The Kentucky Lottery offers its games online and at 3,500 retailers across the state. It is the first lottery in the nation to offer “Connected Play” that allows players to use its mobile app to purchase lottery games at retail with funds in the player’s Fun Club wallet. More information on Connected Play may be found here.
In 2026, the Kentucky Lottery paid out nearly $1.8 billion in prizes. Kentucky Lottery proceeds have funded scholarships and grants for over 1.1 million Kentucky college students
Based on official state lottery press releases. RaspaPro is not affiliated with any lottery. Entertainment only · 18+ · Play responsibly.