In late December, a Powerball jackpot that was climbing past $1 billion caught the attention of a pair of Lottery scratch-off fans in Montgomery County. While the ticket they bought didn’t get them that jackpot, the $50,000 win they did find still had them smiling when they claimed three months later.
“We usually buy a scratch-off ticket or two every week, and have had a bunch of winners over the years,” the couple told Lottery officials when they traveled to Baltimore April 14 to claim their winnings. “This is the most we’ve ever won, though, by a lot.”
Two days after their Powerball purchase – the day after Christmas – they learned that someone in their area had won $50,000 in the previous day’s drawing. They scanned their ticket on the MD Lottery app and were met with a “Go to Lottery” message, which they thought was a good sign.
“I refused to believe that we had the winner,” one said. “We thought that maybe there was something wrong with the ticket,” the other added. A review of the Powerball winning numbers on the Lottery’s website and a comparison with their ticket, however, confirmed their good luck.
They scanned their ticket and checked mdlottery.com several more times just to be sure, and the numbers still matched. That’s when the tears started flowing.
“We’ve had a real up and down six months, work-wise and health-wise. This will make a big difference for us.”
It was the 7-Eleven at 20510 Frederick Road in Germantown that provided their $50,000 ticket. The winners, who were new to Powerball, said the staff there are particularly patient in explaining the game to them.
“We left feeling optimistic that something good was going to happen.”
