RAPID CITY - A group of quilters from Rapid City who for years have been paying $2 a week to buy scratch-off lottery tickets finally pocketed some winnings.

The 17 women won $55,000 on a $5 Cash Deluxe scratch-off lottery ticket last week, making each lady nearly $2,500 richer after taxes.

Quilter Betty Richards is affectionately known by her friends as "Elizabeth the Lottery Bookie." She tells the Rapid City Journal that she had to get her husband to confirm she was reading the ticket correctly when she realized the group had won.

The group has been chipping in to the weekly lottery pool since April 2005. Richards says the win won't buy them the quilting retirement dream home they've joked about for years, but they're still thrilled.

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