“Lucky Joe” of Baltimore is celebrating his $1 million top-prize win on the $1,000,000 Blowout scratch-off. |
Baltimore man wins $1 million scratch-off prize
A soon to be 60-year-old Baltimore man has a lot to celebrate this month. In addition to his upcoming birthday, the scratch-off fan just won a $1 million top prize on the $1,000,000 Blowout game.
“Lucky Joe” already had big plans for his birthday and they played a role in his Lottery purchase. He and his wife are heading to Florida to celebrate his big day and the loyal player was running errands to prepare for the trip. Along the way, he stopped at Quick Mart in Towson and purchased two scratch-offs. His choices were a $5 instant ticket and the $20 $1,000,000 Blowout game. “Lucky Joe” then went home, ate breakfast and settled in the basement to play his Lottery games. He was not prepared for what was about to come next.
The $5 scratch-off delivered a $5 prize. “Lucky Joe” then started on the $20 instant ticket. He scratched off his numbers and the winning numbers first before revealing the prizes. To his surprise, there were no matches! He did, however, reveal a “diamond” symbol. “Lucky Joe” slowly began to scratch off the prize hidden beneath the symbol.
“I just couldn’t believe it,” he said. “All I saw was all these zeroes.”
As “Lucky Joe” continued to scratch, he realized that all of those zeroes equaled a $1 million prize. He told Lottery officials he double-checked the scratch-off but knew it was a big winner. The happy husband wanted to share the news, so he tried to go upstairs to tell his wife.
“I felt so faint,” he said. “I could barely make it up the steps.”
However, he did make it and told his wife the wonderful news. He soon shared news of his good fortune with other family members, including the brother-in-law who accompanied him to Lottery headquarters to claim the $1 million prize. “Lucky Joe” knows exactly what to do with the windfall. He plans to pay off his house and save the rest of the prize for an early retirement.
His lucky Lottery retailer, Quick Mart located at 8604 Loch Raven Boulevard, is also a winner. The Baltimore County business will receive a $1,000 bonus from the Lottery for selling the $1 million top-prize winning scratch-off. This $20 game still has plenty of prizes waiting for discover, including five more $1 million prizes, 11 $50,000 prizes and 42 $10,000 prizes.