Much of $250,000 Gold Rush prize will help family members
A $250,000 Maryland Lottery scratch-off winner from Bowie has some advice for anyone who ends up with a big prize: “Don’t let your kids know!”
The 64-year-old father and grandfather was all smiles and filled with laughter when he visited Lottery headquarters in Baltimore on March 23 to claim his top prize in the $10 $250,000 Gold Rush game. He also was keenly aware of limitations that hadn’t dawned on other family members.
“They think I won for a billion dollars!” he said, laughing. The scratch-off fan added that he has known for years that there was a big prize-winning Lottery instant ticket out there with his name on it. “I’ve been looking for that ticket for I don’t know how long.”
The Prince George’s County resident got lucky after scratching an instant ticket that wasn’t a winner. He was at D&S General Store in Mitchellville and used $10 to buy what turned out to be the $250,000 winning instant ticket.
The loyal player plans to use his windfall to buy a car and remodel three bathrooms in his mother-in-law’s house. Then, there’s the matter of helping out family members. He wants to put money into accounts for his grandchildren, ages 1 to 17, ideally with the requirement that they cannot access it until they’re 35 years old so they have life experience. “If they get it sooner, they’ll just blow it,” he said.
Going forward, the winner plans to keep playing the Maryland Lottery’s Pick 4 game. Now that he’s found his lucky scratch-off, “I don’t have to scratch no more,” he said.
Also picking up a little extra scratch because of the win is D&S General Store. The Prince George’s County store located at 3507 Enterprise Road receives a bonus of $1,000 for selling a winning scratch-off worth $100,000 or more.
