Wins $50,000 playing Instant Millionaire scratch-off
An 82-year-old farmer from the Eastern Shore sowed seeds and watched them grow into a large crop of cash.
The loyal Lottery player enjoys Pick 3, and after collecting prize money he won on that game, he decided to take chance on an Instant Millionaire scratch-off ticket that he purchased at Q Mart located at 8276 Elliott Road in Easton. He’s sure glad that he did, because that ticket delivered a $50,000 prize.
After buying the ticket, the lucky winner took it home and waited until the next morning to play the game. Up early at 5 a.m., before this farmer’s day began, he checked his Pick 3 numbers, had a cup of coffee and scratched his Instant Millionaire ticket.
“I like to scratch the numbers first to see if there is a match and then scratch the prize,” he said. “I knew right away it was a $50,000 winner, but jokingly showed my wife saying it was $100.”
But when he told her the real value of the prize, she didn’t believe it.
“I was in a state of shock, this can’t be right,” she said.
The happy great-grandparents weren’t able to cash the prize at any of their local Lottery retailers, because prizes of more than $25,000 have to be claimed at the Lottery’s headquarters in Baltimore. So they locked the ticket in a safe and waited until their son could escort them to the Lottery’s office.
The big winner said bills can stack up quickly for farmers, and he plans to use some of his prize money to pay them. He added that the remainder of the money will go in the bank. Even at 82, he plans to continue farming. And he also plans to continue playing Lottery games with hopes of having another bountiful harvest soon.
The Instant Millionaire game launched in March, and one of its $1 million top prizes is still waiting to be claimed. There are also three remaining $50,000 prizes.