An IT professional from Aberdeen just made a major update to his finances. The Harford County resident, who says he plays Lottery about twice a year, claimed a $50,000 top-prize Aug. 25 on the $5 Cash Scratch Fever game.
He made a stop recently at Beards Hill Liquors at 951 Beards Hill Road in Aberdeen while on his way home. When the Lottery kiosk caught his eye, he made a decision to try his luck with just one ticket.
Before he arrived back home, he scratched only the bonus section of the ticket to reveal the message “please try again.” He thought the ticket to be a non-winner. Once home, however, he began scratching the play area, but even then, he thought he won only a $5,000 prize – even though the $5,000 amount appeared nine times.
Then he scanned his ticket using the Maryland Lottery app on his smartphone and that’s when he realized each of the nine $5,000 amounts shown was next to a winning snowflake symbol. The remaining $5,000 came because he had a flame symbol next to a $1,000 amount, and the flame symbol multiplies the amount next to it by five.
“I thought I was asleep and wondered when I would wake up,” the winner said of his discovery. He shared news of his win with his wife and daughter. He plans to use his winnings for home improvement and his daughter’s college fund, and put the rest in savings. When he’s not working, he enjoys skiing.
Beards Hill Liquors also has a reason celebrate as the store receives a $500 bonus, equal to 1% of the prize amount.
Cash Scratch Fever launched on July 18 with a total of seven top prizes at the $50,000 level. This win is the second, to be claimed, leaving five top-prizes unclaimed.
