Claim top prize on Lucky Millionaire instant ticket
Life-changing Lottery luck came to a scratch-off playing father-and-son team from northern Montgomery County, who just won the $1 million top prize on the Maryland Lottery’s Lucky Millionaire instant ticket.
The unexpected win will enable the father to pay off his mortgage and give the 20-something son, who commutes to work in Virginia and lives at home with his parents, the finances to afford his own place.
The men only buy tickets as a team if they happen to be together at a Lottery retailer. On the day that good fortune came their way, the winning duo stopped at Upcounty Fine Wine & Beer at 23229 Stringtown Road in Clarksburg. The 56-year-old retired father bought $10 in Powerball tickets and planned to spend $10 on scratch-offs. The son, who works as an information technology desktop technician, chipped in another $10 so they could split a $20 scratch-off.
They had no particular ticket in mind for their purchase, the son said, so fate guided their selection of the Lucky Millionaire scratch-off. “It was just a $20 ticket that was there,” the son said. They scratched the ticket in the store and, seeing the $1 million win, left quietly without alerting the clerk or attracting attention. “I said to myself, ‘This can’t be right!’ ” the son said. “I had to look at it over and over again.”
They have shared their good news with close family members and plan to keep quiet about the win. For selling the top-prize ticket, the retailer will receive a $1,000 bonus from the Lottery. Only one $1 million top-prize ticket remains unclaimed in the game, which still has more than 200,000 prize-winning tickets worth $20 to $50,000 on sale at Lottery retailers.