Dimas Montoya, a Waldorf resident and frequent Maryland Lottery player, scored a $100,000 win.BALTIMORE (May 18, 2016)—Friday the 13th turned out to be a $100,000 day for Dimas Montoya, a Waldorf resident and frequent Maryland Lottery player. Picking up a Crossword Deluxe scratch-off from White Plains Wine & Spirits on the way to work put the game's top prize in the shocked restaurant employee's hands.
Dimas enjoys playing all Lottery games and the crossword instant tickets are his absolute favorite. "Even as a kid, I loved words, vocabulary," the native of El Salvador told Lottery officials. "I always pick out crossword games."
Scratching off his ticket in the restaurant kitchen, Dimas said he knew immediately that he'd uncovered more words than ever before and likely had a big prize coming. The restaurant got busy then, leaving him unsure of the size of his prize for his entire shift.
Afterward, Dimas went home and carefully examined his lucky ticket.
"I was stunned," he said. "I could not believe what I was seeing." As he called family and friends to share the news, our winner told us his mind was a blank. "Everyone was so happy. There was joy in every phone call."
The 42-year-old Charles County man visited Lottery headquarters on Monday after a weekend of very little sleep. "Nerves kept me awake," he said. "I was counting the hours until I could get to the Lottery to turn in the ticket."
He has no plans yet for his winnings but knows that he'll be able to do plenty of good with it.
His lucky retailer is White Plains Wine & Spirits located at 4425 Crain Highway in White Plains. For selling the top-prize ticket in the game, the Charles County retailer will receive a $1,000 bonus.
The $10 Crossword Deluxe game debuted in March. Three more top prizes remain unclaimed, as well as 14 $10,000 prizes and more than 300,000 prizes of $10 to $1,000.