Aron Kothlow, 39, of Caledonia, didn't think of himself as a lucky guy, until now.

Sure he had won $60 at Dairyland Greyhound Park in Kenosha a few years back. But when he drove through the drive-thru at McDonald's, 3037 Douglas Ave. and pealed back the Monopoly tabs on his Coke, his luck had changed that afternoon in October.

Kothlow, who works two jobs, thought he would have to register the code online first, and would be entered to win $10,000. But no, these tabs were instant winners.

"I went to the counter and asked about them, then the woman told me 'No, those are instant winners and I won $10,000.'" Kothlow said.

Anxiously, Kothlow called his wife, Neliane Kothlow, to tell her about his win. But she didn't really believe Aron had won until the check arrived at the end of November.

Since then, Aron used the money to pay off a credit card bill he had from when he went to visit Neliane, a Filipino woman, in Hong Kong in 2005. The two met online and they carried on their romance for several years before they married in 2007.

Aron felt good about the win, especially knowing the odds. There were four chances to win the $10,000 instant prize and he was the only one to come forward to claim the prize. Still, knowing that the $1 million grand-prize winner Jonathan Kehoe was from West Allis was a little disappointing.

But Aron doesn't dwell on the negative.

"Sure I wish I had won it, but I guess he needed the money more," Aron said.