Eastern Shore family adds second big scratch-off win in two years
A Preston man’s morning hankering for pretzels led to a series of scratch-off purchases and a $50,000 win on a 50X The Cash instant ticket. The happy player is following in his wife’s footsteps as a big Maryland Lottery winner.
“This isn’t my family’s first big win,” said “Jay Jr,” which is the nickname the anonymous winner chose for Lottery publicity. “My wife won $20,000 last year on a scratch-off!”
The 46-year-old didn’t even play Lottery scratch-offs until his wife won big. “Jay Jr.” enjoyed several small wins this year and his luck took a turn for the better a few days ago. The Eastern Shore resident woke up and decided to make a run for coffee and a pretzel. He tackled several errands that morning and, at a grocery store, bought an instant ticket that turned out to be a $50 winner. He pocketed the winning scratch-off and continued on his way.
Eventually, he arrived at Carroll Motor Fuels / JK22 located at 8276 Elliott Road in Easton to pick up some items and saw the retailer’s Lottery vending machine. “Jay Jr.” used his $50 in winnings from the earlier scratch-off purchase to buy five $10 50X The Cash instant tickets. Then, he started scratching.
The first four games were non-winners. When the Caroline County resident got to the last game, he realized that he needed to hurry home. “Jay Jr.” revealed the prize check area at the bottom of the instant ticket, scanned it and discovered Lottery luck had arrived in a big way.
“As soon as I saw the ‘Come to the Lottery’ message, I knew it was a big winner,” said “Jay Jr.,” laughing. “I prank my family all the time, telling them ‘We won the Powerball,’ so when I told them I was a big winner they didn’t believe me.”
“Jay Jr.” and his family are in the middle of closing on a new home and he plans to use his prize to pay for closing costs.
The 50X The Cash game is packed with prizes. Players can hunt for the four remaining $100,000 top prizes, four more $50,000 prizes, 11 $10,000 prizes and more than 360,000 prizes ranging from $10 to $1,000.
