Friends helped Christina Campbell of Dundalk find her $20,000 winning Lucky Bingo scratch-off. |
Claims top prize playing Lucky Bingo game
With a little help from her friends, Christina Campbell of Dundalk became the Maryland Lottery’s first top-prize winner on the Lucky Bingo scratch-off.
The 33-year-old former martial arts instructor, completely blind for eight years now, needed that help to pick out her $2 Lucky Bingo instant ticket and to confirm her $20,000 win. The important part – the scratching – was all her doing.
“I was out with my friends on Saturday when we decided to each try a Lottery ticket before heading home,” Christina told Lottery officials after claiming her big prize. “My best friend picked one out for me and I scratched it in the car as we drove home.” As her friend read off match after match while she scratched, the Baltimore County woman began to get excited.
“Before my friend mentioned even the second match, I had a sudden feeling that this was a lucky ticket,” she said. “It somehow just felt like a winner.” The 24 matches on the Lucky Bingo card added up to a blackout – an entire bingo card uncovered. When her friends explained what that blackout was worth, Christina went into shock.
“My mind went blank,” she said. “I had no idea what to do, what to think. And, my friend just kept saying, jokingly, ‘I can’t believe I gave away a big winner.’ ”
Two days later, Christina was still in shock. So far, she has no specific plans for her winnings. She does have plans, however, for the 11 $20,000 top-prize winning tickets her now-favorite Lottery game still has available. “I’ll be playing whenever I’m out with my friends and it’ll be Lucky Bingo every time.”
Her retailer, Ross Liquors at 706 Merritt Boulevard in Baltimore, earns a $200 bonus from the Lottery for serving up the first Lucky Bingo top-prize winner. The game also has 10 $10,000 winners and thousands of other prizes ranging from $2 to $1,000.