Baltimore man’s thirst leads to Lottery luck
An 80-year-old retired printer stopped at Royal Farms #169 in Baltimore last week with one thing on his mind. That one thing, buying a cup of coffee, became two things when he noticed a Maryland Lottery vending machine in the store.
Happily for the husband and father, his decision to buy coffee and a $10 scratch-off at the Royal Farms located at 6201 Pulaski Highway led to a $10,000 Lottery win!
“I almost never play these things,” said the Baltimore man, referring to his winning $250,000 High Rollers Club scratch-off. “Every once in a while, I get a lucky feeling and pick up a ticket, but it’s rare.”
On the day of his win, the grandfather got that feeling. “While I was pouring my coffee, a lady bought two different tickets and neither were winners,” he said. Thinking that the vending machine might be due to issue a winning scratch-off, he decided to try one – but not right away. “I waited until the lady left,” he said. “I knew it would break her heart if I won right after she’d played.”
After buying his game, the lucky man took the instant ticket out to the car so he and his wife could scratch it off together. “We saw a match good for $500, then another, then another,” he said. “It was just crazy, we couldn’t believe it.” Their multiple matches added up to the game’s $10,000 prize, which they plan to use for home improvements and to spoil their granddaughter.
The $250,000 High Rollers Club game debuted in February. Only one $250,000 top prize remains but there are six more $10,000 prizes and more than 200,000 prizes of $10 to $1,000.