District Heights man claims top prize on $5 Ravens scratch-off
A 65-year-old District Heights man floated into Maryland Lottery’s headquarters after realizing a $100,000 win playing the $5 Ravens scratch-off game. The Redskins football fan acknowledged the Baltimore Ravens that brought his Lottery luck.
The retired U.S. Postal Service employee said he was running errands earlier this week when he decided to stop in Kettering Liquors in Upper Marlboro to purchase some scratch-offs.
“The Redskins are my number one team, but they don’t have a scratch-off,” he said, chuckling. “The Ravens are a close second and I’ve been winning on the game.”
The retiree purchased four $5 Ravens tickets and won $50. Then, he used the $50 to purchase 10 more scratch-off games. He took the instant tickets and continued with his errands.
The lucky player didn’t remember the scratch-offs until later in the evening at home. He pulled out a piece of newspaper, grabbed a quarter and went to work on his games. One by one, he scratched the instant tickets and was shocked when he came to the seventh scratch-off.
“I saw the winning number was 21 and I thought, ‘If I match, I’ll win,’ ”, he said with a smile. Sure enough, his number matched the 21 and the prize underneath was a whopping $100,000!
“I just can’t believe this happened,” said the Prince George’s County resident. “After winning, I could not sleep.”
The widower said he may use the winnings to visit family members in Florida and buy a new car and will save the rest of the prize.
His lucky retailer, Kettering Liquors, is located at 10682 Campus Way South in Upper Marlboro. The Prince George’s County business earned a $1,000 bonus from the Lottery for selling the top-prize winning scratch-off in the game.
The game still contains lots of winning scratch-offs, including three more $100,000 winners, five $50,000 winners and thousands of other prizes ranging from $5 to $10,000. And, if your Ravens scratch-offs are non-winners, you can still win by entering them into the Ravens second-chance contest through My Lottery Rewards. Win season tickets for 20 years, cash, an away trip with the team and lots more. Visit ravens.mdlottery.com for details.