Second player to claim Tech the Halls scratch-off top prize
An Annapolis dishwasher cleaned up this week at the Maryland Lottery, claiming the top prize of $100,000 on a $10 Tech the Halls scratch-off.
The winner and his son visited Lottery headquarters in Baltimore with smiles on their faces and the winning scratch-off in hand. The father of eight emigrated from El Salvador about three years ago and is working as a dishwasher at an Annapolis restaurant. The 54-year-old is a great fan of Maryland Lottery games and plays several times a week.
Good fortune came to the Anne Arundel County resident while en route to pick up his wife from her job. He stopped at a Lottery retailer for a scratch-off ticket and selected Tech the Halls, a colorful, holiday-themed instant game that went on sale in late October.
“I scratched it right there in the store – it was pretty late and not many people were there,” the man said. One of the first numbers he revealed made him a $100,000 winner. “I started shaking,” he said. “When I handed the ticket to the cashier to check, he had to grab it because my hand was shaking so badly.”
When his wife got into the car, he immediately told her the great news. At first, she didn’t believe him, he said, but he convinced her of their good luck. “She started shouting and dancing right there in the parking lot,” he said.
They plan to purchase their first home with the winnings and share the prize with their children and six grandchildren. The Pantry Food Mart at 1090 Spa Road in Annapolis delivered their lucky ticket. There are still two $100,000 Tech the Halls tickets available in stores.
Tech the Halls is a family of five scratch-offs priced at $1, $2, $3, $5 and $10. The tickets offer top instant prizes of $1,000, $10,000, $30,000, $50,000 and $100,000, respectively. Players can enter non-winning tickets into second-chance drawings for Sony prizes now through Jan. 21. The prizes range from TVs and laptops to digital cameras.