Gift of French scratch card wins homeless friends €50,000

Four young homeless people won €50,000, the maximum prize possible, on a scratch card that was given to them by a customer as she left a tabac where they were sitting outside begging.

“Usually some people give them a few coins or something to eat, but this lady decided to give them a scratch card and came in especially to buy it after talking to them,” Dominique Pierre, the co-owner of the tabac, Le Minuit, in Brest told The Connexion.

“As you can imagine they were delighted when they scratched it and found they had won, especially as they first thought they had only won €25,000 but when we looked at it we found it was double.”

The card was part of a game called “Banco” run by FDJ.

Mr Pierre said the four young people, three men and a woman, all from Brest and friends with each other, were regular beggars in the town, and often gathered outside his shop because it was open late at night.

They have not been seen since their win, and Mr Pierre said he thought they had left the town to take lodgings elsewhere with their winnings of €12,500 each.

He has not seen the lady who bought them the card either, but thinks he will recognise her again.

“I am sure she will be happy that her gift proved to be so fruitful,” he said.

“It is nice to have such a good news story in these times.”

The shop owner has seen other large wins with scratch cards, but few have attracted the attention this one has, Mr Pierre said.

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