BALTIMORE (June 7, 2016)—A spontaneous Saturday morning decision to buy a Maryland Lottery scratch-off paid off to the tune of $50,000 for a lucky Upper Marlboro resident.
The win came courtesy of The Price is Right® instant ticket purchased at the Super H Convenience Store in Waldorf. The lucky winner was with a friend when she got the urge to buy a scratch-off.
"The lady in front of me at the store bought 10 scratch-offs, so I said, 'Shoot, I'll play too,' " she said, adding that her friend also purchased a few instant tickets. He didn't win anything, but she certainly did.
The winner, who works for the U.S. Postal Service, played the ticket systematically. First, she scratched off the winning numbers, then scratched off her 14 chances to match those numbers on the right side of the ticket. Then, one by one, she began to scratch off the prize amounts. The second number on her ticket was a 17, which matched one of the winning numbers. Next to that 17 was a $50,000 prize!
"I said, 'I think I won,' " she said. "I said, 'I just won $50,000!' I couldn't believe it. I still can't believe it's real."
After taking the ticket back to the Super H Convenience Store to verify the win, she stored it in a drawer for a couple of days until she could come to Lottery headquarters in Baltimore to claim her prize.
"I put it in the drawer with the receipt, and I said, 'Lord, please don't let the house burn down,' " she said.
The largest Lottery prize she had won before was $5, so the Prince George's County resident is elated. She added that it comes at a good time, as she is interested in looking for a new home and plans to use the money for a down payment.
Super H Convenience Store is a winner as well. For selling the top-prize-winning ticket in the game, the Charles County retailer located at 11901 Business Park Drive will receive a $500 bonus from the Maryland Lottery, equal to 1 percent of the prize value.
The Price is Right ticket launched in April and five of its $50,000 top prizes are still waiting to be found at Lottery retailers across the state. The ticket also features thousands of other prizes ranging from $5 to $5,000.