Free Powerball Ticket Gives ‘Big Mama’ a Sweet $50,000 Surprise

Travel is on the agenda for these lucky Powerball winners from Fort Washington.

My Lottery Rewards member earned coupon for free $2 ticket

A Fort Washington woman who is a big Maryland Lottery fan enters tickets often into her My Lottery Rewards account. Through the Lottery’s player loyalty program, she has received coupons in the past for free Lottery tickets, but her latest voucher was the first to lead to a $50,000 Powerball prize.

Was she ever surprised this time at her Lottery luck!

“Big Mama,” as she nicknamed herself for Lottery publicity, claimed her third-tier Powerball prize at Lottery headquarters on March 31 accompanied by her husband, nicknamed “Pop Pop.” The anonymous couple were taking their grandson back to college on March 26 when they stopped at Walmart #2391, located at 409 North Fruitland Boulevard in Fruitland, to pick up some items for him.

While she was there, “Big Mama” bought her Lottery tickets for the week. She favors the national jackpot games and scratch-offs. She fed her voucher into the store’s self-serve Lottery vending machine and out popped a free $2 quick-pick Powerball ticket for the March 27 drawing. A congratulations message across the top of the ticket explained that her voucher had awarded her the free Powerball ticket. “Good luck,” the top-of-ticket message stated, and lots of luck is exactly what came “Big Mama’s” way.

The pair returned home to Prince George’s County and the March 27 drawing came and went. “Big Mama” scanned her ticket the next day using the Maryland Lottery app on her phone and saw the message that she won. She showed the ticket to her husband and later saw the winner alert story on mdlottery.com, which reported that a $50,000 winning ticket had been sold in in Wicomico County. Nobody in Wicomico County was doing the winner happy dance, “Big Mama” said, because she and “Pop Pop” were doing a “happy dance” of their own several counties away!

The parents of three and grandparents of one have kept their big win a secret. The retirees enjoy traveling, and said the windfall could lead to more vacation getaways.