Wins $10,000 Bingo Gold prize on unintended vending machine purchase
A mistaken purchase led to delight this week, when a Sears cashier collected a $10,000 prize from a Bingo Gold scratch-off. The Baltimore resident purchased the lucky $10 instant ticket when a button was accidently pressed on a Lottery vending machine.
The lucky lady works as a cashier at the Sears in Hunt Valley. The avid scratcher says she often spends a portion of her breaks playing instant tickets she purchases at the neighboring Wegmans store.
This week, while on a break, she loaded $20 into the Hunt Valley Wegmans’ Lottery vending machine. She selected a $5 instant ticket while discussing the store’s recent winning scratch-offs with a helpful clerk. As the clerk pointed out the Bingo Gold game in the machine, she accidentally pressed the button and dispensed the instant ticket.
Although the clerk offered to exchange the scratch-off, the 51-year-old kept the Bingo Gold game. She told Lottery officials she knew she’d be disappointed if the scratch-off failed to deliver a prize but even more dejected if she decided not to keep what could be a winning ticket.
She quickly scanned the instant ticket’s barcode to see if it was a winner. When the scanner displayed a strange message, the happy player knew she held something special. She returned to work and waited until her next break to reveal the instant ticket’s $10,000 prize.
The lucky winner has several ideas for how to enjoy her prize. She will save some of the money and share a portion of the prize with family members. She also plans to take care of the clerk who connected her with the winning Bingo Gold scratch-off at Wegmans located at 122 Shawan Road.
The extended-play Bingo Gold game has plenty of prizes remaining, including three $100,000 top prizes, 11 $10,000 prizes and thousands of others ranging from $10 to $1,000.