Gold Rush 777 game’s top prize puts pair on the hunt for a new house
Come to think of it, becoming an instant millionaire is a bit unbelievable, so it’s no wonder a Maryland Lottery player from Aberdeen was having trouble with the concept.
“I still don’t believe it,” she said on Nov. 22 after claiming the top prize on the $20 scratch-off game, Gold Rush 777.
The winner typically enjoys playing Keno. More than 30 years ago when they first started dating, she introduced her husband to the fun of playing scratch-off games.
“Every once in a while, he says, ‘Let’s get a scratch-off,’” she said. That’s pretty much what happened in the case that made them a million-dollar couple.
He scratched off the instant ticket bought at a Wawa in Aberdeen and saw the winning number 18 matched 18 in a square with a $1 million prize. Then, he scanned the prize check area with the Maryland Lottery app on his phone.
“He said, ‘Mama, it’s a million-dollar winner.’ I didn’t believe it,” she said. The wife checked the scratch-off herself using her phone, saw the same message, and still had trouble getting the big win to register in her head.
She claimed the prize, but the two are talking about buying a house either in Western Maryland where the husband is from, or possibly in Pennsylvania. Some of the winnings will square up finances and help family members out.
Prior to heading back to Aberdeen, the husband asked, “Do you believe it now?” and his wife gave a bit of a shrug, saying, “I guess so.”
The winner bought the instant ticket, at her husband’s request, while playing Keno at the Wawa convenience store at 231 North Philadelphia Boulevard in Aberdeen. The store receives a Lottery bonus of $1,000 for selling the top-prize winning scratch-off.
The Gold Rush 777 game went on sale in May and, with the Aberdeen winner’s claim, two of four top-tier million-dollar prizes remain unclaimed along with four at the $50,000 level, 52 at the $10,000 level and thousands ranging from $20 to $5,000.
