Previous top wins have been in the $500 to $800 range for year-end player
A Bel Air man who enjoys playing Maryland Lottery scratch-off tickets near the end of the year has won enough in the past to keep him interested, but nothing like the $50,000 prize he claimed Dec. 2.
“I’m retired and don’t do too much, but I usually play at the end of the year,” he said.
Typically, he’ll buy 10 tickets at the $5 price point in a row. If he wins under $100, he will put that money, and possibly a little more, into a second round of ticket purchases, stopping when his luck runs out. Or, occasionally, he wins a prize in the $500 range and that’s a win on the day. His previous personal best was an $800 win.
For his $50,000 win, he was playing the game 20X The Cash at the Exxon gas station on MacPhail Road in Bel Air. The winning ticket was the first one in a set he had just purchased.
“I kept looking at it, and looking at it, looking at it,” he said. Then he showed a clerk at the gas station.
“She said, ‘Put it away!’ I took it home and locked it up,” he said. The only person he told was his adult son.
After he squares up his finances, the winner says it’s all going in the bank to deal with any unexpected expenses that may pop up.
He’s also keeping up with his Lottery hobby. As of Dec. 2, he had another bunch of tickets worth less than $100 ready to cash out.
The Harford County player won the second to last of eight top-tier $50,000 prizes on the 20X the Cash ticket, leaving a single big win still unclaimed.
The MacPhail Road Exxon station, at 600 West MacPhail Road, receives a bonus of $500 for selling a top-prize scratch-off ticket.
