Hagerstown resident finds $50,000 scratch-off prize in Washington County
“I’m actually a jackpot game player,” a retired information technology specialist told Lottery officials last week when she visited Baltimore with a scratch-off worth $50,000. “But every once in a while, a scratch game catches my eye.” Luckily for this Washington County resident, it was the $1 Million Royale game that grabbed her attention, thus making her the latest to win the $20 instant ticket’s second-tier prize.
The Hagerstown woman was out and about in late December when she noticed she needed a gas fill-up. “I stopped at the first gas station I saw. As I was waiting for the tank to fill, I noticed that the store there sold Lottery.”
Good Fortune was about to add two more coincidences to those first two happy ones. “Instead of getting my usual Mega Millions and Powerball tickets, for some reason, I changed my mind.” The last component of her day’s lucky twists of fate fell into place when her gaze came to rest on the $1 Million Royale scratch-off. “I don’t know why,” she said. “There was just something about that ticket.”
Later at home, the lucky lady scratched off her instant ticket, uncovering the numbers in the playing field but not the prizes beneath each number. “I had no matches, which was disappointing,” she recalled. “But there was one symbol instead of a number there.”
Quickly reading the game rules and noting that the symbol earned the prize beneath it, her mood changed. “I expected to win my money back, so I was happy.” The prize that awaited her, however, produced a very different feeling. “It was shock. It was disbelief. Could it really be $50,000?”
The winner and her husband plan to share their prize with their family. “A big event, I think,” she said, “maybe a trip. Either way, it’ll be all of us together.”
The $1 Million Royale game landed on retailers’ shelves last July with seven $1 million top prizes available. Five remain unclaimed, as do four more of the instant ticket’s $50,000 second-tier prize and 52 $10,000 prizes.
When next in Hagerstown, try your luck at the couple’s Lottery retailer, AC&T #240 at 1701 Dual Highway. Maybe walk in with plans to buy a certain game and then pick something else at the last moment. That strategy certainly worked for this winner!
