Kansas – Tuesday morning, her husband Robert yelled, “Barb, come here!”
“The way he yelled it, it scared me to death,” said Barb Schwartz. “I thought he was having a heart attack!”
Nothing like that, thank goodness. It wasn’t a cry for help; it was a cry of joy! Robert Schwartz was celebrating the $22,000 top prize he won in Monday’s 2by2 drawing. And to think…“I won it with a free ticket!” he said proudly.
As a steady 2by2 player, Robert Schwartz gets lots of free tickets. Players get a free 2by2 ticket every time they match one of the Red numbers or one of the White numbers. When Schwartz went to the store to claim his free ticket Monday, he had no idea his “freebie” would win him $22,000.
“I always play my own numbers in 2by2,” Schwartz explained. “Of course, I couldn’t do that with a free ticket because it prints automatically and is always a Quick Pick.”
Schwartz termed his $22,000 prize an unexpected windfall. “I expect to win $1,000 or $2,000 once in a while, but I didn’t expect to win this much,” he said.
As a savvy 2by2 player, Schwartz always makes sure he buys a multi-draw ticket good for seven days. That way if he wins a prize on a Tuesday, the prize is doubled. This special feature of the 2by2 game is called “2by2 Tuesday.” Had Schwartz won Tuesday instead of Monday, his $22,000 prize would have doubled to $44,000. He’s hoping for that double win in the future.
Schwartz is retired now, but worked 41 years as the Superintendent of the Water Pollution Control Department in Great Bend. He and his wife both enjoy golf and said they may get some new clubs with part of their prize money.
Schwartz got his free 2by2 ticket where he’s been buying lottery tickets for more than 20 years – Zip Stop 3, located at 3620 Tenth Street, Great Bend.