“Sugar Bear” and his girlfriend celebrate his top-prize scratch-off win. |
Claims top prize on $10 Gold Rush X50 scratch-off
A former Baltimore city bus driver struck gold with the $10 member of the Maryland Lottery’s Gold Rush family of scratch-offs. The retiree won a $100,000 top prize on the Gold Rush X50 game, toppling his former top scratch-off score of $50.
The lucky Baltimore man, who called himself “Sugar Bear” for Lottery publicity, claimed his prize Monday. The 70-year-old discovered his Lottery luck Friday night shortly after returning home with a pair of Gold Rush X50 scratch-offs. The instant tickets were an impulse treat purchased with change after filling up at the Woodmoor Shell gas station.
As he watched a baseball game, “Sugar Bear” scratched off his instant tickets. He first revealed the play area on his scratch-off and then uncovered each of the game’s five winning numbers one by one, looking for matching numbers. When he uncovered a match that delivered a $100,000 prize, “Sugar Bear” said he was flabbergasted.
“I put the ticket down,” he said. “Then I picked it up. I looked at it with my glasses and without. It still looked the same, but I just couldn’t figure it out. When I saw the prize amount I won, I just went blank.”
A fun weekend of anticipation followed, but “Sugar Bear” wasn’t worried about his winning instant ticket. He hid it in a set of history books!
The longtime city resident said he watched Baltimore grow and change during his 28 years in the driver’s seat of a city bus. “Sugar Bear” said it was rewarding to get folks where they needed to go all those years. Now, looking at a large Lottery windfall, the retiree is scratching his head thinking about his own reward. “I never thought I would come up with a six-figure winner,” said the scratch-off fan. “Sugar Bear” plans to use his winnings to take a nice vacation, possibly to a sunny island in the Pacific.
His $100,000 top prize was the fifth one claimed on the Gold Rush X50 scratch-off since it hit stores in May. Players can look for three more top prizes in the game. Other games in this fun family are the $1 Gold Rush x5, $2 Gold Rush x10, $5 Gold Rush x20 and $20 Gold Rush x100 scratch-offs.
The site of “Sugar Bear’s” lucky win, Woodmoor Shell at 7001 Liberty Road in Baltimore, is also celebrating. For selling a top prize instant ticket of $100,000, the Baltimore County Lottery retailer earned a $1,000 bonus from the Lottery.