A Rockville grandmother of five who cleans houses for a living set her vacuum and furniture polish aside for a day to make an enriching journey to Baltimore. The happy woman arrived at Maryland Lottery headquarters with her daughter-in-law by her side to claim a $20,000 prize in the $200,000 Jackpot game.
The 57-year-old loyal scratch-off player enjoys her hobby and tries to play every day. “If I win, I win, if I lose, I lose,” she said. “Every day, I hope I will win.” The lucky player often wins $10 or $15, which is enough to pay for her games. She frequents several Lottery retailers and found Lady Luck waiting with a $20,000 jackpot at Safeway #1956. The store is located at 14939 Shady Grove Road in Rockville.
The mother of four had finished grocery shopping and stopped, as she often does, to buy a few scratch-offs before going home. “The lady next to me kept getting tickets and winning,” she recalled. “I said, ‘Oh, I’m not lucky today.’ I was leaving and then I said, ‘I will get one more’” and selected the $200,000 Jackpot game.
She scanned the Prize Check area on that last scratch-off and couldn’t restrain her joy.
“I said, ‘Oh, my God, I did it! I did it!’ I was screaming like a crazy man. The customers all said, ‘What happened?’ ”
Her lucky day made everyone happy. Our winner tried to call her son but couldn’t get through and next phoned her daughter-in-law to deliver the great news. “She was so happy,” the daughter-in-law recalled. “She said, ‘Oh, it’s big, it’s big.’ ”
The big win will go toward bills and her house payment. “It’s a huge help with my bills,” said the winner.
The $200,000 Jackpot scratch-off game that launched in May has two $200,000 top prizes remaining plus three unclaimed $20,000 prizes and nine $10,000 prizes. Other members of the Jackpot Family of Games are the $1 $2,000 Jackpot game, the $2 $20,000 Jackpot game and the $5 $100,000 Jackpot game.