Claims top prize on Gold Hard Cash scratch-off game
A Frederick housewife will get the chance to make a long-awaited trip thanks to a $100,000 prize she won on the Maryland Lottery’s Gold Hard Cash scratch-off game.
She plans to use part of the prize money to visit her son, a soldier stationed in Korea, whom she has not seen in more than a year. But she was so sure the ticket couldn’t possibly be real that she said it took a while before that happy reality began to truly set in.
The 48-year-old wife and mother was shopping over the weekend when she noticed that a nearby store was a lottery retailer.
“I really enjoy the scratch-off games, but I only remember to get some when I notice a store that sells them,” she said.
She picked out a $10 Gold Hard Cash ticket and played it while walking to the grocery store.
“There’s really no reason I chose this one, it just caught my eye,” she said.
What she revealed when she scratched the ticket caught not only her eye, but her breath, too.
“I saw the $100,000 and just froze,” she said. “I really, really never win anything, so I asked my friend to look at it.”
Still unsure, the Frederick woman stepped into a second Lottery retailer to seek confirmation.
“When the guy told me it was real, I just started crying,” she recalled, adding that the lucky ticket will allow her to do two things she’s been thinking of for some time.
“Visiting my son is first, of course, but I also have several family members that need help,” she said. “With this win I can help them get back on their feet.”
The lucky winner purchased her Gold Hard Cash ticket at Amber Meadows Liquors at 183 Thomas Johnson Drive in Frederick. The retailer is a winner as well. For selling the ticket, the store will receive a $1,000 bonus from the Maryland Lottery.
Gold Hard Cash debuted in September, and only one of its $100,000 top prizes is still waiting to be found at Lottery retailers across the state. There is also one remaining $10,000 prize, and thousands of other prizes ranging from $10 to $1,000.