Claims $50,000 top prize on Winning Streak scratch-off
Still awaiting her first paycheck in a new position and her last from her previous employer, an Anne Arundel County woman counted on her higher power to sort out the situation. Little did she know that help was on the way, courtesy of a Maryland Lottery scratch-off purchase.
“It’s not like I was in dire straits,” said the mother and new grandmother. “It was just frustrating having to wait.”
On Friday, the cybersecurity specialist found herself at the Timbuktu Restaurant in Hanover. She decided to leave her revenue dilemma in higher hands and try an instant ticket. “I rarely play these things, but I do buy them for a family member who really enjoys them. She’d won recently with Winning Streak and had told me that I ought to try one so I did.”
It wasn’t until the next morning that the Hanover resident scratched off her big win. “There are 15 boxes on the ticket and I had matches in eight of them. It looked like they added up to $50,000 but ‘there’s no way that could be,’ I told myself. I never win anything.”
Input from her Lottery loving family and a nearby convenience store set her straight. “I asked the clerk to not react if what I thought I’d won turned out to be true,” said the 53-year-old. “I wanted to keep it quiet in the store.” The look on the man’s face convinced her that she could no longer claim to have never won a big prize.
“His eyes got real big. He mouthed, ‘You just won $50,000!’ ” The happy winner kept her cool until she was a few blocks away from the store. Her screams of joy while in her car apparently went undetected!
The happy winner will dedicate her Winning Streak cash first to her bills and then to her new grandson. Her top-prize win leaves four more $50,000 prizes awaiting discovery in this $5 game, which debuted in February. Also celebrating is Timbuktu at 1726 Dorsey Road in Hanover. The lucky retailer earns a $500 bonus from the Lottery for selling a top-prize winning instant ticket in the game. The bonus is equal to 1 percent of the prize.