Finds top prize on Gold instant ticket
Happy holidays are in the works for the eight grandkids and four great-grandchildren of a lucky Sparrows Point woman. She was the winner of a $50,000 top prize on the Maryland Lottery’s Gold scratch-off game.
The retired barmaid, who enjoys playing $5 scratch-offs, bought the lucky ticket from a Lottery vending machine at Edgemere Convenience Store in Baltimore. The 70-year-old took the ticket home to scratch. Her husband of more than 40 years was out so she settled in to enjoy her game.
“I said, ‘I’m not going to win,’ and then I got a 34,” she said. “I figure, ‘Let’s see what I won.”
She had first scratched off the numbers to see if they matched any of the ticket’s winning numbers. When she matched the 34, she proceeded to reveal the prize amount hiding below it. And she couldn’t believe it – $50,000!
“I couldn’t comprehend it,” she said. “I was shaking just like I am now.”
The shocked Baltimore County resident phoned a friend who owns a bar to ask if he could look at the scratch-off and confirm her win. The dubious winner took her lucky instant ticket to him and he delivered the news every player wants to hear: She won!
This is her largest win ever, said the happy woman, and it easily tops her previous $5 prizes. She plans to buy a newer used car with her winnings and spoil her grandchildren and great-grandchildren for the holidays.
There are still plenty of winning tickets in the Gold game. Players can hunt for seven more unclaimed $50,000 top prizes, a dozen $5,000 prizes and thousands of other prizes ranging from $5 to $1,000.
Happy to join in her win is the lucky Baltimore County Lottery retailer. Edgemere Convenience Store located at 7308 North Point Road in Baltimore earned a $500 bonus from the Lottery for selling a top-prize scratch-off in the game.