Tammy and Dennis Vass of Street were all smiles after Tammy won a $50,000 top prize on the Home Run Riches scratch-off. |
Royal Farms in Street sells first top-prize winner on Home Run Riches scratch-off
You’ll have to excuse Tammy Vass if she’s having trouble wiping the smile off of her face these days. The Harford County resident has started 2018 with an impressive run of good luck. Her latest and largest win came on Feb. 27, when she landed a $50,000 top prize on the new Home Run Riches scratch-off.
The $5 game went on sale at Lottery retailers just one day earlier! Although Tammy said she isn’t typically drawn to sports-themed instant tickets, she decided to buy one when she stopped at Royal Farms #95 at 3606 Conowingo Road in Street.
“I started scratching it there in the store, and when I saw the first $5,000, I just said, ‘Oh my God,’ ” Tammy recalled. She and her husband Dennis visited Maryland Lottery headquarters in Baltimore to claim the prize on March 2. “I looked around to see if anyone was looking, and then I found another $5,000, and then another and another.”
All told, she revealed 10 of those $5,000 prizes, which made her the first $50,000 top-prize winner on the Lottery’s 2018 Home Run Riches game. She was so excited, she left the Royal Farms without scanning the ticket at the store’s ticket checker. Instead, she drove to where her husband was working and showed the ticket to him.
“I asked him, ‘How much did I win?’ ” Tammy said. “And, he said, ‘$5,000,’ I told him, ‘Look again!’ I was so excited. I couldn’t believe it.”
Tammy, who works as an administrative specialist for Harford County, has also enjoyed a $500 scratch-off win and $3,500 in winnings during a trip to Atlantic City in the first two months of 2018. She and Dennis are planning a trip to Las Vegas for their 32nd wedding anniversary, and with the trip already paid for, the couple are hoping their good fortune continues.
“I’m just going to follow her around and carry a bag for all her winnings,” Dennis said with a laugh.
The couple, who have a son and a daughter and two grandchildren, are hoping to use some of their Home Run Riches prize to pay for a new roof on their home and to pay off a car loan. The Harford County Royal Farms store is a winner as well. For selling a top-prize-winning ticket, the retailer will earn a $500 bonus from the Maryland Lottery.
There are still five more $50,000 top prizes on the Home Run Riches ticket, along with 20 $5,000 prizes and thousands of additional prizes ranging from $10 to $1,000. Players can enter non-winning Home Run Riches instant tickets into the Contestant of the Game second-chance contest, available through My Lottery Rewards. One winner will be selected for each Baltimore Orioles regular season game. Winners receive $500 for being selected, and an additional $500 for each home run hit by an Orioles player during the game for which the contestant is selected.