Baltimore educator plans to purchase a truck to help kickstart a painting business after claiming a $50,000 FAST PLAY Snowflake Ca$h prize.
A cheap thrill is generally enough to keep a Baltimore educator interested in playing the Lottery, but winning $50,000 on the $5 FAST PLAY game Snowflake Ca$h has made playing even more interesting.
And he almost threw the winning ticket away.
“I don’t really care about winning big. I just want to have a win every once in a while, even if its just $1,” he said Jan. 15 when he claimed his prize. The winner, going by the alias “Tom Ford” to tell his story, elaborated on his Lottery engagement: “I play a couple dollars every pay period.”
This method has given him the low-level wins that make him feel good about the day, but according to the winner, nothing over $100.
That all changed on New Year’s Eve when he was at the Boost Mobile store at 3419 Clifton Avenue in Baltimore and purchased that FAST PLAY ticket out of the vending machine.
“I almost threw the ticket away because I didn’t see any wins,” he recalled after claiming his prize. He had missed the number 10, which appeared both in the winning numbers at the top of the ticket and his numbers with the $50,000 prize.
It only took a split second, however, to scan the prize check QR code on the vending machine, which he’s thankful he did before throwing the ticket in the trash.
“I scanned it and got the message to take it to the clerk,” he said. Knowing that message to be an indication of a big win, he turned his back on the trash, tucked his ticket away and walked out the door.
“Tom Ford” says a Ford may well be in his future, thanks to the win. Brands aside, he will be buying a truck and using it to establish a side gig of painting houses when he’s not teaching.
The Boost Mobile shop receives a bonus of $500 for selling the $50,000 winning ticket.
