A magnifying glass and reading glasses helped “River” confirm his $50,000 win.
Discovers big win on Falling Into Ca$h game
When “River” has down time between pickups on his Maryland bus trips, the semiretired out-of-state resident often stops at a Maryland Lottery retailer for fun and games.
The married father of one, who took on his bus-driving duties several years ago after retiring, said the 30 minutes of down time he has between bus trips is plenty of time to try his luck. Little did he know on Oct. 19 that his decision to buy one of his favorite FAST PLAY tickets, Falling Into Ca$h, would make him $50,000 richer!
He said the $5 game had been attracting his attention because the squirrel on the front of the ticket reminds him of his mom, because she feeds squirrels. “River” said he wins pretty regularly on a variety of games but usually only small amounts. When he stopped at Easton Super Soda in Talbot County on Oct. 19, “River” was having a routine day.
He bought the Falling Into Ca$h ticket and another FAST PLAY game and took them back to his vehicle, where he placed them under his clipboard. Returning to duty made him forget all about the tickets until later that day when he had a break and was near another Lottery retailer. “River” first pulled up the My Lottery Rewards app on his phone and began checking the tickets. The first one was not a winner. The Falling Into Ca$h ticket, however, scanned with an error message.
“I wear readers but I can see pretty good,” he said. “I looked at it again. I said, ‘Something’s not right, no way!”’ The second time he scanned the ticket, the message congratulated him on a $50,000 win.
“River,” astonished, stepped off his bus with a magnifying glass in hand. “I dug out my readers, too,” he recalled. Another look at the ticket with readers on and the magnifying glass in hand confirmed his lucky win. “I can’t believe it. I still can’t believe it!” he said, adding that he plans to put his prize money in the bank for now.
The Lottery retailer that sold him the ticket also shares in the fun. For selling a winning FAST PLAY ticket of $50,000, Easton Super Soda at 326 East Dover Street in Easton earns a $500 bonus from the Lottery.
The Falling Into Ca$h game went on sale Sept. 5 and still has 19 of its $50,000 top prizes remaining along with 20 $5,000 prizes and others ranging from $5 to $500.
