VIP Club ticket puts regular player in an elite group
There’s a new millionaire in Laurel thanks to a Maryland Lottery scratch-off, but no one will be able to tell based on his behavior.
He’s keeping his job and not planning any changes in his lifestyle. Asked if he has plans for his $2 million win on the $30 VIP Club ticket, he said, “Investing it. I’m not spending any of it.”
The player has a good job and, at 47, is looking forward to a day when he can retire in comfort. He anticipates his big Lottery win will make it that much more comfortable, but he isn’t changing his timetable.
An avid player for many years who has won occasional smaller prizes, he was caught off guard when he got the hot ticket, though at first he wasn’t sure what was going on.
He bought the ticket Aug. 30 at the Royal Farms store (#211) at 3470 Fort Meade Road in Laurel. In a bit of a hurry, he scratched off only the prize check part of the ticket and scanned it. He got a message to take the ticket to Maryland Lottery headquarters. Not sure what it meant, he scratched off the latex from the play area, revealing an “auto-win” square with a stack of coins with the amount showing as $2,000,000.
“I think my heart jumped out of my chest,” he said Sept. 9 when he claimed his prize. Inside, his heart was pounding and his mind was racing, but outside he was calm. He walked out of the store, went to another location and checked the ticket again to confirm. Then he drove home.
Though he was excited for quite some time after realizing he was a big winner, by that evening he had settled back into his usual routine, though from time to time since then, he has experienced flashes of excitement.
While he won’t be doing anything big, he may celebrate at some point with a good bottle of wine.
Meanwhile, the Royal Farms where he bought his ticket will also have reason to celebrate, as the store scores a $2,000 bonus for selling a winning scratch-off ticket at that level.
The Laurel winner’s big ticket was the second of five $2 million winners in the run, so another three at that level remain unclaimed, along with five at the $50,000 level and several thousand at lower levels.
