dingostew.com

A MAN who believed he held a winning lottery ticket was awarded $100,000 in prize money after a court battle with officials who said his symbols did not match up,

Bale Kuzmanovski thought he was on to a winner when he scratched the $5 lottery ticket based on the board game Pictionary, to reveal the picture of a swimmer next to the word "bathe," The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

He said he felt an "explosion of elation" and spent an excited night with his wife - who bought him the ticket as a birthday present - dreaming of how they would spend the $100,000 windfall.

But when he went to claim his prize the next morning, he was told he was not holding a winning ticket as the image of the swimmer did not match the word "bathe."

The correct image would have been a bathtub, New South Wales Lotteries said. The symbol on Mr Kuzmanovski's ticket would only have been a winner if the word next to it was "swim."

Mr Kuzmanovski said he felt deeply angry, cheated and spent a sleepless night when his ticket was rejected.

The matter went to Federal Court with the couple arguing that "bathe" meaning "swim" was the definition given in at least four dictionaries sold in Australia.

NSW Lotteries argued the Macquarie Dictionary meaning was: "Chiefly British: to swim for pleasure."

Justice Steven Rares ruled in favour of Mr Kuzmanovski, saying "an ordinary and natural meaning in Australian English usage of 'bathe' is 'swim'."

He ordered NSW Lotteries to pay the $100,000 plus three years' interest and legal costs.

Nice one!
Them scratchies are addictive too! My missus used to get that Crossword one every day! Never won anything over $5 and musta spent a sh*tload of cash on them!