Player using windfall to get her finances in order, help her family
Learning that she had won $100,000 playing a Maryland Lottery scratch-off, a Baltimore woman’s celebration involved some excited screaming and hollering followed up by phone calls to family members. Her plans for the windfall, however, are low-key and practical.
“I’m going to pay off some debt and take care of my kids. It’s a blessing for my family and gets me out from under this cloud,” she said after claiming her prize at Lottery headquarters. Funds left after she settles her accounts will go into a savings account, which she says “is something I’ve wanted to do for years.”
The 45-year-old found Lottery luck while filling her car with gas at Village Shell in Baltimore City. She bought a Power 5s instant ticket for $5 and scored $50, which she plowed back into the purchase of a few more Lottery games. Among the instant tickets in the winner’s second set of games was the lucky $10 Big Cash Riches scratch-off. A $10 game was an unusual choice for the scratch-off fan, but she was feeling lucky after her $50 win.
“I just wanted to try something different,” she said. Scratch-offs in hand, she went back to her car, started pumping gas, sat down in the driver’s seat and began scratching off the games. When her tank was full, she finished her transaction, got back in the car and scanned the prize check squares on the instant tickets. Her scan of the Big Cash Riches ticket gave her the message she won $100,000!
“I started screaming, ‘I know you’re lying!’” she recalled. But machines don’t lie and she did indeed win. She called her mom and then her daughter, who is home from college on break, and then phoned her son, who lives in another state. All the while, she was screaming and yelling with joy.
Sharing in her good fortune is Village Shell. The gas station located at 4598 Edmondson Avenue receives a bonus of $1,000 from the Lottery for selling a $100,000 top-prize winning scratch-off.
The second most popular scratch-off on the Maryland Lottery’s weekly Top 40 Scratch-Offs list, Big Cash Riches, joined the lineup after its sales started Dec. 27. Our winner picked up the game’s first top prize, leaving seven more available at the $100,000 level. Big Cash Riches also has nine prizes at the $20,000 level and 22 at the $10,000 level.
