Charles Degree of Fort Washington won $50,000 on a Diamonds & Dollars scratch-off. |
Captures $50,000 top prize on Diamonds & Dollars game
The idea of buying a Powerball ticket got him in the door but Charles Degree of Fort Washington walked out of a Maryland Lottery retailer holding a top-prize winning product from a completely different game! The Prince George’s County man won $50,000 with a Diamonds & Dollars scratch-off.
Mind blowing? Absolutely! Moments before his purchase, Charles passed up an opportunity to buy a scratch-off. He walked right past a grocery store’s Lottery vending machine. While he’s a frequent player, the retired U.S. Department of Defense supervisor had no intention of stopping to buy any Lottery product. Until, that is, he noticed Lottery retailer Accokeek Wine & Spirits right next door to the grocery.
“I decided to get my Powerball tickets,” he said, and entered the retailer located at 15789 Livingston Road in Accokeek. “While I was there, it occurred to me to try my luck with a scratch game.”
The 64-year-old had noticed that Diamonds & Dollars had a few top prizes remaining when he last visited the Lottery’s website, so that’s the ticket he chose. “I do some research for those times that I feel like playing a scratch-off,” he said.
The $50,000 prize he revealed after playing the game at home has, as he put it, blown his mind. “The first $1,000 I noticed had me in shock. When I saw all the matches that followed, I just couldn’t believe it.”
Charles plans to spend his prize taking a close friend on a shopping spree and maybe a vacation or two in the coming months.
The Diamonds & Dollars game still has two $50,000 top-prize winning tickets and five $5,000 winners waiting to be found in Maryland stores. For selling the top prize ticket, Accokeek Wine & Spirits receives a $500 bonus from the Lottery.