School teacher finds big prize at very bottom of ticket
A New Carrollton man who keeps a weekly $20 budget for Maryland Lottery tickets said he typically enjoys playing $1 and $2 scratch-offs. But recently he decided he wanted to try something new, so he purchased just one $20 $50,000 Cash ticket for the week.
To say it was a great choice would be an understatement: He won one of the ticket’s $50,000 top prizes.
The game provides 30 chances to win as there are 30 numbers to scratch off and see whether they match any of the five winning numbers at the top of the ticket. The Prince George’s County resident scratched off the first 29 numbers without any matches. But then he got to the 30th number, and there, at the lower right corner of the ticket, he found a $50,000 amount under a No. 7, which was one of the ticket’s five winning numbers.
“I got to the very bottom and saw that I won. I am wearing glasses and was not sure if I was seeing things,” he said with a smile.
He handed the ticket to his wife, who agreed it was a $50,000 winner. Then couple took the ticket to a Lottery retailer for official verification.
“I couldn’t believe it. We were hoping to win $500 or even $100. I didn’t plan on winning $50,000,” said the big winner.
His wife added that her favorite number is 7 and that was the number that revealed the $50,000 prize.
The school teacher and his wife have been married for five years and the couple plans to use the prize money to pay bills and purchase a new car.
The winning ticket was purchased at the Landover Hills Exxon at 6579 Annapolis Road in Prince George’s County. For selling the tickets, the Landover retailer will receive a $500 bonus.
The $50,000 Cash ticket launched in December 2022 with 160 $50,000 top prizes, and 79 of those remain unclaimed, along with thousands of other prizes ranging from $20 to $5,000.
