Man pulls lottery ticket from trash, ends up winning $250,000

Andrew Hunter, a 24-year-old server at a Dawsonville, Georgia, Taco Mac restaurant, tossed a lottery ticket in the trash last week. He thought it was worthless.

"I didn't realize you could win $3 for matching one number plus the Mega Ball," Hunter told the Georgia Lottery.

Once he realized his ticket could pocket him a few dollars after all, he fished it out of the garbage and took it to a nearby convenience store. There, he used his $3 in winnings to buy three $1 Mega Millions tickets.

One of those tickets won him $250,000.

"I would never have bought that ticket if I hadn't pulled the other ticket out of the trash," Hunter said, adding, "I don't think it's really hit me yet."

Hunter, who considers himself "pretty frugal," plans to invest most of his winnings, with the hopes of eventually opening his own business.

"I want to own a beer brewery," Hunter told NorthFulton.com.