“Tank,” of Baltimore County, said he kept seeing zeros on his scratch-off that eventually added up to $1 million.
A Baltimore County man kept scratching away and couldn’t believe his eyes as he saw it was adding up to a $1 million top prize on the Maryland Lottery’s All About Cash scratch-off.
The new millionaire, who is using the alias “Tank,” said Aug. 22 when he claimed his winnings at Lottery headquarters in Baltimore he had gone to a store to buy ice and had an extra $20 in his pocket. He asked the clerk for a $20 scratch-off.
“I jokingly told her to pick me a winner,” he said with a laugh.
“Tank” scratched off all the numbers when he got home without revealing the prizes amounts underneath. He had one match on the number 27. He was feeling lucky because 27 was a significant number in his family. The utility worker slowly scratched the rest of the ticket and he spotted a one with more and more zeroes after that first digit.
“At first, I thought I won $100. Then I thought it was for $1,000. It kept going and going,” he said.
As he continued to scratch, he saw the zeros were adding up. When he was done, the commas and zeros made it clear he had won $1 million.
“I called my wife and said, ‘I just hit this sucker for one million bucks’,” the eastern Baltimore County resident said.
“Tank” told many friends and family about the win. He texted a relative a photo of the scratched ticket without stating it was a winner. That relative responded with shock: “Is that a winner?”
The avid boater said he plans on using his prizes toward retirement and he is thankful for his lucky pocket knife. He used the knife to scratch the latex off his winning ticket, and was also used on a ticket a few years ago that won him $10,000.
The store that sold “Tank” the winning ticket was Hob’s Carroll Motor Fuels at 7115 North Point Road in Sparrows Point, which receives a $1,000 bonus.
All About Cash, a $20 game, went on sale starting July 18 and “Tank’s” ticket is the first of five $1 million tickets, leaving four at that level unclaimed, along with all four $50,000 second tier prizes. Tens of thousands of other prizes ranging from $40 to $10,000 are also still out there.
