Forest Hill Scratch-off Fan Turns $20 Win into $50,000 Prize

Has wife sit down before sharing good news about lucky Fat Wallet game

A Harford County scratch-off fan who buys $20 worth of Lottery tickets a few times a month said he almost decided not to buy the batch of four instant tickets that contained a $50,000 top-prize winner.

The retired educator, who plays scratch-offs as a hobby, said he likes to buy $20 worth of tickets at a time. “I’ve been doing it for months,” he said.

The Forest Hill resident usually buys four $5 games or two $10 games. A few weeks ago, he bought four $5 scratch-offs and won $20. The 68-year-old saved that prize and, next time, bought four more games and won what he thought was $15. However, when he took the winning scratch-offs to the counter to redeem the instant tickets, the clerk at Royal Farms #088 in Monkton told him he actually won a total of $20.

“Had it been $15, I would have just put the money in my wallet,” he said. Instead, he took the $20 and bought two $5 FAMILY FEUD® scratch-offs and two $5 Fat Wallet instant tickets from the machine at the store.

He took the games home to play, which follows his Lottery routine, and discovered the FAMILY FEUD games didn’t yield a win. The first Fat Wallet scratch-off carried a $25 prize. When he revealed the “auto win” symbol on the second game, he excitedly scratched off the prize amount and saw zero after zero appear.

“I got two tickets in a row that were winners,” he said of the Fat Wallet games, noting how unusual that was for him to get back-to-back wins on games from the same book.

When his wife came home, he asked her to sit down and told her not to worry, that it wasn’t bad news. After starting a FaceTime call with their son, the winner handed the instant ticket to his wife. Both he and his son, who is also a scratch-off fan, got to see her priceless reaction when she realized the scratch-off was a $50,000 top-prize winner.

The lucky husband said they haven’t firmed up any plans yet for the prize.

The Fat Wallet game went on sale in March and started with eight $50,000 top prizes and 14 $5,000 second-tier prizes. The game offers 15 chances to win prizes that start at $5.

Royal Farms #088 also benefits from its sale of the winning game. For selling a $50,000 top-prize winning scratch-off, the Harford County store located at 3209 Jarrettsville Pike will receive a $500 bonus from the Lottery.