A bartender was tipped a Powerball ticket that won her $50,000.
Getting lottery tickets isn’t unusual for bartenders at Bleachers Bar in O’Fallon, Missouri.
“One of the regulars will buy the rest of the regulars in the bar lottery tickets every now and then, especially when it’s high,” bartender Taylor Russey told KMOV.
On Oct. 19, one of the “regulars” came in and gave a lottery ticket to Russey as a tip. The next day, the bar announced that a big winning ticket had been sold.
“I was like, ‘Guys, who won all this money and didn’t tell anybody?’” Russey recalled.
To her surprise, it was hers. According to KMOV, Russey’s tickets matched four of the five numbers drawn as well as the Powerball, winning her $50,000.
Russey’s ticket was the 40th sold in Missouri and the second sold in O’Fallon in 2019, KMOV reported, citing Missouri Lottery.
Players in St. Charles County have won more than $47.9 million in Missouri Lottery prizes this last fiscal year, according to the outlet. Missouri Lottery said $9.2 million went to educational programs in the county.
Meanwhile, a server in Euclid, Ohio was left “literally shaking” when an out-of-town couple gave her a $1,070 tip last week, reported Fox 8.
After ordering food, appetizers, and wine, the couple left a $100 tip that surprised the server, Samantha Meyer. Thinking that the amount might have been a mistake, she went back to the table and inquired about it.
The man assured Meyer the amount was correct and reportedly told her: “You were wonderful. This place is wonderful. I’d like you to have a good night.”
Soon the couple had asked to purchase a $30 bottle of wine to go and wrote another $970 tip, a gesture that Meyer says left her frozen. “I couldn’t even move,” she told Fox 8.
The restaurant owners said that Meyer chased after the couple “out of confusion” only to be told that there is no mistake. When she asked who he was, he simply wished her a good night.
“She was literally shaking,” co-owner Rina Catena told the broadcaster.
“There’ve been very generous folks throughout the years, but nothing like this. Nothing close to this amount,” said Catena, who co-owns the Euclid eatery with her sister Fran.
Meyer said she had had a difficult month and the tip came at a wonderful time, adding to the outlet: “God works in mysterious ways.” But even so, she ended up sharing the money with her co-workers.
“No one deserves this more than Sam,” the owners told Fox News, adding that Meyer has been working at the Italian restaurant since she was 15. “We’re just so grateful,” Fran said. “I want him to come back. I just want to give him a hug.”
