Wins progressive jackpot on High Roller Blackjack game
“It was blind luck,” said a retired butcher from Beltsville, laughing as he sat in the Winner’s Circle at Lottery headquarters after claiming a $104,179 FAST PLAY prize.
Winning the progressive jackpot on June 12 on a FAST PLAY High Roller Blackjack game wasn’t the only prize he took home from that outing. “That day, I spent about $50 on FAST PLAY playing the I Heart Cash, Payday, MONOPOLY™ Properties, World Championship Poker, Blackjack and High Roller Blackjack games,” he said. “I won on all of them.”
His biggest prize, the $104,179 progressive jackpot, dwarfed his other wins. The married father of three won $100 on a $5 I Heart Cash ticket, $500 on a $5 Payday progressive jackpot game, $50 on a $20 MONOPOLY™ Properties ticket, $200 on a $5 World Championship Poker progressive jackpot game, $10 on a $2 Blackjack ticket and the big prize on the $10 High Roller Blackjack game.
The Prince George’s County resident said he has loved FAST PLAY since the Lottery launched the instant-win games in 2020 and routinely buys FAST PLAY tickets as well as scratch-offs. On the day he encountered a waterfall of Lottery luck, he stopped at 7-Eleven #11569 in Beltsville.
He was playing the High Roller Blackjack game for the first time and paid close attention to the description of how to play. “I put my glasses on and said, ‘OK, I’ve got three hands to play.’” he said, recalling the moments before his big win. The dealer’s hand won in the first play area and, at first, he thought he won $20 in the second play area. “Then, I said, ‘Hold up.’” Confused, he returned to the store and asked the clerk to “check this particular ticket.” The clerk did, then gestured to him to come closer and quietly said the prize was big and he would print out the amount for him. The clerk also laughed when asked if he could cash a prize that large.
The clerk’s answer was “No,” the winner said, so he made an appointment to claim his big prize at Lottery headquarters in Baltimore. He won the first progressive jackpot in the game, which went on sale in April. The progressive jackpot starts at $100,000 and grows with the sale of each ticket until a lucky player buys a progressive jackpot-winning ticket.
The happy retiree, who is a grandfather of four, worked for 36 years as a grocery store butcher. He said the $104,179 High Roller Blackjack prize will go to pay bills, and that he plans to share some of the funds with his family.
His lucky Lottery retailer also wins. For selling the winning ticket, 7-Eleven #11569 located at 11422 Cherry Hill Road in Beltsville earns a bonus of $1,000 from the Lottery.
