An unexpected Money Rush scratch-off purchase gave Alvaro Guevara-Mejia and his wife a $50,000 prize.
Prince George’s County man wins $50,000 Money Rush prize
Alvaro Guevara-Mejia is a daily Lottery player, good for one ticket a day on his way home from his work site. The 27-year-old construction worker broke his routine last Friday when circumstances unexpectedly placed him at a Lottery retailer.
Something as simple as running low on snacks changed his family’s fortunes.
“My whole family was together that Friday,” the Lanham resident said. “All of our schedules just worked out, which is unusual. We weren’t celebrating anything particular, just enjoying being together.”
When his wife mentioned that the drinks and snacks were almost gone, Alvaro volunteered to run to the store.
Lottery luck found him at Brightseat Liquors at 2600 Brightseat Road in Landover. “I remembered that I had a winning ticket from that morning, so I cashed it and looked at the scratch-off selection there.” He noticed the $10 Money Rush game, which is one of his favorites, was among the instant tickets for sale. Alvaro bought it, scratched it and stood there in the store staring at the game in his hand.
“I thought at first it was a $500 win, which is a big deal for us. But when I was cashing it in, the clerk and I realized that it was $50,000. Neither of us could believe it.”
Alvaro returned to the party and shared the news with his wife and family members. Her hands started shaking as she looked at the lucky instant ticket.
“We’ve been saving for a house, and this puts us way ahead of where we expected,” she said. The couple tell us that when Alvaro shared his news with the group, the impromptu family celebration kicked into high gear.
Money Rush, which went on sale in July, has a $100,000 top prize. Along with three of its eight original top prizes, two of the game’s $50,000 second-tier winners are still available. Other prizes range from $10 to $10,000.
