Joseph Waters, Jr. from Laurel celebrates his 50,000 Amazing 8s win! |
Wins Amazing 8s Scratch-off Top Prize
Taking his scratch-offs home from the store before playing is the regular routine for Joseph Waters, Jr. of Laurel, something he does just about every day. So, up to the point of scratching his Amazing 8s game, his Friday morning had been just as normal and uneventful as he expected. The rest of his Friday and his weekend, though, were quite the opposite.
When he saw the matching numbers and the $50,000 amount, he was shocked. “This kind of thing just doesn’t happen to me,” he explained to Lottery officials. He took the ticket upstairs to his wife to make sure he was seeing what he thought he was seeing. Joe’s wife reported that he looked calm, like nothing was amiss. It was only when she saw the Amazing 8s ticket and realized what had just happened to them that she warned her husband to stay calm. “Joe has a pacemaker, you see.” The couple had a relaxing weekend, but were anxious to get to Lottery Headquarters Monday morning to claim their prize. “I was up, dressed and ready to go super early this morning,” Joe joked.
Joe plans to use his winnings to pay bills and repair his truck.
The winning Amazing 8s ticket was purchased from the Shell service station at 9280 All Saints Road in Laurel.