Forgotten bifocals leads to $3 million jackpot

ROANOKE: A man's forgotten bifocals led to a $3 million lottery jackpot.

Bobby Guffey usually plays the same combination of numbers representing the birthdays of his five children. But he left his glasses at home when he bought the winning ticket Aug 6, accidentally entering the last number as 48 instead of 46, The Journal Gazette newspaper reported on Friday.

The Hoosier Lotto ticket ended up being worth $3 million. ``My wife says it pays to be blind,'' Guffey said Thursday after he accepted his winnings at the Indiana State Fair in Indianapolis.

Guffey, who's from the northeastern Indiana town of Roanoke, said he didn't realize he'd used the wrong number combination until he had left the Huntington service station where he bought it. He went back inside to buy a ticket with his usual numbers and that ticket won him $1,000 to go along with the jackpot.

Guffey said he has been playing the Hoosier Lotto since it started in 1989. He said he's won about $5,000 on various tickets over the years.

His wife, Janell, said they are going to pay off their house, take a cruise to Hawaii next year and set up a trust fund for their five children and 10 grandchildren.