After Waldemar “Bud” T. cashed out on a massive Colorado lottery jackpot, he treated himself to a watermelon.




Colorado Lottery

After Waldemar “Bud” T. cashed out on a massive Colorado lottery jackpot, he treated himself to a watermelon.

And for his wife? Some flowers, lottery officials said in a Sept. 11 news release. Bud’s full name was not provided in the release.

The retired Montrose man took home a little more than $2.5 million after cashing out on his $5,067,041 Colorado Lotto+ jackpot win, officials said.

While the winning numbers were drawn on Sept. 6, Bud “was on a backpacking trip in the Holy Cross Wilderness with his golden retriever, Augie,” officials said.

Upon getting home, Bud, an “avid outdoorsman” who loves to “bike, hike, climb and play tennis,” checked his ticket online, officials said.

He was in disbelief.

“It must be a mistake,” Bud thought, according to lottery officials.

Bud lives in Colorado six months out of the year and “always” uses his “own lucky numbers” when playing the lottery, officials said.

Montrose is about 300 miles southwest of Denver.