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Baldwin man forgot to check Emerald Riches scratch-off
Walter Nawrocki of Baldwin owned a $10,000-winning scratch-off for almost 24 hours and didn’t even know it!
On his way home from work on June 16, the Baltimore County resident cashed in $20 worth of winning scratch-offs and bought two $10 Emerald Riches tickets at Savory Deli & Market in Fallston. Rather than scratch the tickets immediately, he tucked them into the sun visor in his car and didn’t think about them again until the next afternoon.
The independent insurance agent, who is based in Bel Air, was the last person in his office when he remembered the tickets. He went to his car, got the tickets and scratched them. In just moments, he was $10,000 richer!
“It was late in the day and there was nobody around to tell,” Walter said. “I scanned the ticket and sent it to my wife at work. She didn’t think it was real.”
Indeed it was! This is the largest prize the avid scratch-off player has ever won and he does win with Maryland Lottery scratch-offs. Walter saves winning tickets until he accumulates at least $20 worth, which he cashes in to purchase more tickets.
“I like to try to parlay what I’ve won,” he said. “I’ve won $50 or $100 before. If I get some of those I’ll save them up until I have $600 and cash them at the casino and use that as my gambling money.”
His biggest win prior to this one was $1,000 on April 14, 2011, when he was the Contestant of the Game for a Baltimore Orioles game as part of the Lottery’s Double Play second-chance contest.
Walter plans to put his Emerald Riches prize into a savings account. The game has two more big winning tickets out at Lottery retailers waiting to be claimed: one carries a top prize of $100,000 and one has a $10,000 prize. Want to visit his lucky store? Savory Deli & Market is located at 2801 Fallston Road.