A Montana man said he almost gave up his favorite scratch-off lottery ticket after winning $1,000, but he decided to keep buying them and ended up winning $75,000 three months later. Photo by Pung/Shutterstock.com

March 18 (UPI) -- A Montana man said he almost stopped buying his favorite scratch-off lottery ticket after winning a $1,000 prize, but he ended up sticking with it and winning $75,000.

Arnie Depping told Montana Lottery officials he thought the $1,000 he won from a Slingo Trio Treasure scratch-off ticket was likely to be the biggest prize he would get from the game.


"But something told me to just keep playing," he said.

Depping's gut feeling turned out to be a good one when he bought another of the tickets from the Holiday Station store in Great Falls this month and won a $75,000 jackpot.

"It paid off really well," he said.

Depping said he found out about the big win while checking tickets at the store with his foster daughter.

"I turned to her and said, 'We did it!'" Depping said.

The winner said he is planning to use his prize money to by new vehicles for his family.