Woman Hits Jackpot With Workplace White Elephant Gift

Ashley Hunte
Lori Janes hit the jackpot after receiving lottery scratch cards.
PEOPLE | Kentucky Lottery via PEOPLE

White Elephant can be a pretty fun game, unless somebody steals the gift you really wanted and you end up stuck with something you aren't really that into. Still, there's a bit of a thrill in not knowing what you're going to end up with.

Typically done around the holidays with large groups of friends or coworkers, you really never know what you're going to end up with until the game is done. If you're lucky enough, you might get something you could really use. Or you could end up with something fun, like a lottery ticket. Of course, there's a good chance your lottery ticket won't get you very far. Unless you're incredibly lucky, that is.

A Kentucky woman got the surprise of her life after ending up with $25 in lottery scratch cards during her workplace White Elephant exchange at a holiday party. When she scratched them, she realized that she'd won the $175,000 jackpot.

Lori Janes Works At Harmon Dental Center In Louisville.

During the gift exchange, she initially received a gift card for T.J. Maxx valued at $25. Another coworker "stole" the card, which meant that Janes could pick again. She ended up with the scratch cards that were hers to keep. "That's when everyone was telling me to scratch them off," Janes said to the Kentucky Lottery Commission, according to PEOPLE.

Janes scratched the first card, which ended up winning $50. That alone would've been a great holiday surprise. But Janes had a second card to scratch, which ended up being a real winner.

To The Tune Of $175,000.

Janes won all 15 of the spots on the ticket, meaning that she'd hit the literal jackpot.

"Everyone was going insane," she continued. "People were getting their calculators out and double-checking. A couple of people even scanned the ticket on the lottery's app, just to make sure."

That Same Day, Janes And Her Husband Went To The Lottery Commission To Collect The Prize.

Janes, mother of two, will use the money to help pay for her daughter's schooling.
PEOPLE | Kentucky Lottery via PEOPLE

Both Janes and her husband were in complete shock and disbelief over the amount of money they'd won. Both admitted to feeling like it wasn't real, despite the coworkers cheering for them.

After Taxes, Janes Walks Away With $124,250.

The mother of two already knows how to spend the money; it's going to go toward her daughter's college tuition and car payments.

"This is so crazy, I'm truly blessed," Janes said. "I couldn't believe it. It was a $25 gift exchange, and I won $175,000!"