Hot instant ticket purchased at Food Lion in Odenton
Winning $100,000 is worth shouting about, but the Annapolis man who found the $100,000 top prize on a Maryland Lottery $100,000 Instant Jackpot scratch-off preferred to keep his win as quiet as possible, in part so he can surprise his wife.
The lucky player has been a scratch-off devote for years. Often he buys instant tickets, scratches off the prize check box and scans to see if they are winners. He deviated from this practice on a recent trip to the Food Lion #1474 at 8741 Piney Orchard Parkway in Odenton. The 68-year-old scratched off the entire $10 instant ticket to reveal that one of his “winning numbers,” 50, also appeared in the “your numbers” section over the prize amount $100,000. Although he has won amounts of up to $1,000 on past plays, he was astonished to find such a large prize.
The Anne Arundel County resident said he did share news of his good fortune with a store clerk and showed her the winning scratch-off. He said he often gives her his non-winning instant tickets so she can enter them in her My Lottery Rewards account for second-chance prizes. When he showed her the winning instant ticket, “She wanted to be my new best friend,” he said.
His plans for the prize, after surprising his wife, are low key. “I’m going to sock it away for a rainy day,” the happy husband said.
The lucky win also benefits the Food Lion store, which receives a bonus of $1,000 from the Lottery for selling a top-prize winning scratch-off. The bonus is equal to 1 percent of the prize. The $100,000 Instant Jackpot game, which went on sale Dec. 30, still has six of the original eight $100,000 top prizes awaiting discovery along with two dozen prizes in the five-digit category.