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Wins $50,000 top prize
Steven Kropkowski was on the way home from visiting a friend when he decided to pull over for a bottle of iced tea. The occasional scratch-off player saw a new book of Strike it Rich tickets on display and asked the clerk for a few. Steven began to scratch the tickets in the store and was shocked to see that he had won a $50,000 Strike it Rich top prize.
The Bel Air resident told Lottery officials that he usually gravitates towards tickets with low numbers when deciding which scratch-offs to purchase. “There’s no real reason, I just tend to have more luck with those tickets,” he said. His method certainly paid off.
The 44-year-old had to look at his ticket several times before he quietly told the store clerk that he had won something big. “I left pretty quickly to avoid drawing too much attention,” he laughed. As soon the father-of-two got home, he informed his parents and fiancé about his win. “Everyone was pretty excited for me,” he said.
Steven, who is in sales, plans to put his winnings towards his backyard wedding next year. “I’ll pay off a few bills as well, but the majority of the money will go towards the wedding,” he told Lottery officials. The winning ticket was purchased at the Shell Food Mart at 5920 Moravia Park Dr. in Baltimore.