Finds Red Hot Cash game’s top prize first time she played it
Winning a $30,000 top prize on a scratch-off she’d never played before was a new experience for a 68-year-old Washington County woman. She quietly claimed her prize on a Red Hot Cash instant ticket this week at Lottery headquarters in Baltimore.
The anonymous player, who selected the nickname “Big J” to tell the story of her Lottery win, found her lucky scratch-off at Walmart #1674 in Hagerstown. She was there with her husband to pick up prescription medication. While waiting for her medication to be filled, the retiree cruised the aisles and found herself at a Lottery vending machine.
The Hagerstown resident purchased some low-priced scratch-offs, which is unusual because she typically buys four or five $10 scratch-offs. She had never played the $3 Red Hot Cash game before but added it to her purchases. Wrapping things up in the store, “Big J” headed to her car to wait for her husband. She began scratching off her instant tickets.
Realizing she won $30,000, “Big J” recalls being “floored, shocked and overwhelmed with disbelief.” She then showed the game to her husband and he hollered, “Baby, it’s a winner!” The pair then went to a different store to scan the scratch-off to confirm her prize before rushing home to hide the instant ticket in a safe place.
When asked how she plans to spend her new fortune, “Big J” said she wants to pay off her home mortgage. The mother of three and grandmother of three, she also intends to help her family financially and will keep playing scratch-offs.
“The Lottery gives me something to look forward to throughout the week,” she said. “You never know what could happen that could change your life.”
Also benefiting from her lucky purchase is Walmart #1674 in Washington County. The Hagerstown retailer will receive a $300 bonus from the Lottery for selling a top-prize winning scratch-off.
The Red Hot Cash instant ticket joins a Hot family of games that went on sale May 22. Other members of the family are the $1 Hot 7s, $2 Hot 7s Doubler, $5 Hot 7s Tripler and $10 Hot 7s Multiplier scratch-offs. A $20 Hot 777 ticket went on sale in April. In addition to the top prize, Red Hot Cash has more than 690,000 prizes ranging from $3 to $1,000.
