Hyattsville Man’s Spring Scratch-off Prize Becomes May Payday

Claims $50,000 win on 50X the Cash game

Days grew into weeks as a 61-year-old scratch-off player waited, collecting himself,  before claiming his $50,000 prize on the Maryland Lottery’s 50X the Cash game. His March win became a sweet May payday!

The Prince George’s County man still recalls the happy day he met Lady Luck in New Carrollton. After work, he stopped at New Carrollton Sunoco located at 7460 Annapolis Road specifically to play his favorite Maryland Lottery game — scratch-offs. He played a few instant tickets, including the 50X the Cash game, because he won with this $10 scratch-off before and likes the game’s concept. The federal government employee scratched the instant tickets in the New Carrollton business and was pleasantly surprised by what he saw.

“I had the ‘50X’ symbol and I saw the first 0 underneath and I thought, ‘Wait a minute,’ ” he said. “I kept scratching and revealed $1,000 and I thought it was just a $5,000 win.”

The Hyattsville resident, happy with a $5,000 win, took a closer look at the scratch-off.

“That’s when I realized it was $50,000!” said the winner, laughing.

Clearly shaken, the father of three decided to keep his win to himself and quietly left the gas station for home. He put the scratch-off in a drawer and told Lottery officials that he needed to calm down before claiming his big win. It took months before the lucky player was ready to claim his big prize but he checked on his lucky scratch-off regularly.

“I had a ritual of looking at the ticket each day,” he said. “This is truly a blessing.”

The loyal player plans to pay bills with his prize and will help his children financially as needed.

The 50x the Cash scratch-off, which is part of the Multiplier Family of Games, still features three top prizes of $100,000, three $50,000 prizes and thousands of others ranging from $10 to $10,000. Other members of the Multiplier Family are the 5X the Cash game, 10X the Cash and 20X the Cash games.