Abingdon Bingo scratch-off fan Natalie Roberts wins first $50,000 top prize on the $5 Gold Bar Bingo game.
It was about two weeks ago that a Lottery scratch-off fan from Harford County was brushed by good fortune. She had purchased her normal scratch-offs for the day, but a stop at a Royal Farms store with her husband prompted her to buy more, and those extras ended up making her $50,000 richer.
Natalie Roberts enjoys playing scratch-offs, bingo games especially. While in the Royal Farms store she noticed the store employee was reloading the Lottery vending machine with tickets. She recalled not seeing any $5 bingo games in awhile and asked the employee if there were there some new tickets. The employee replied, “Yes.”
“I was excited and when I saw the Bingo games and bought two of the Gold Bar Bingo tickets,” said Natalie. “I like the bingo games because even if you don’t win, it’s still fun to play.”
The next day she scratched her tickets. She was surprised when she had a diagonal line and thought, “Sweet, a $50 win.” But then she continued to scratch, matching four corners too.
“I scratched one more number and realized I was going to win $50,000,” she said Aug. 4 when she claimed her winnings at Lottery headquarters in Baltimore.
By scratching that final number, Natalie revealed an “X” which on the final board is a $50,000 win. She was in disbelief, but also running late for an exercise class, so she didn’t share the news with her husband until returning home.
“I joked and asked if it was a $5 million winner,” smirked Jeff, her husband, who accompanied her to claim the prize. “She said, ‘No, but it is $50,000.’”
The insurance company employee said she has no immediate plans for her prize money.
The Royal Farms at 10 Box Hill South Parkway in Abingdon where she bought the tickets receives a $500 bonus.
Natalie grabbed the first $50,000 top prize on the $5 Gold Bar Bingo 7th Edition. The ticket went on sale in July with seven top prizes, so six remain unclaimed. In addition, the ticket has nine $10,000 prizes, as well as hundreds of thousands of prizes ranging from $5 to $5,000.
