A St. Mary’s County woman, and lottery enthusiast, had taken a break from playing but on a recent day while at a store buying soda, she decided to end her lottery hiatus and try her luck with a FAST PLAY ticket. She bought a few $10 Lucky Numbers games and was able to capture a $50,000 prize.
The Maryland native made a stop on Nov. 14 at Murphy’s Town & Country at 21270 Oakley Road in Avenue. In addition to ending her lottery hiatus, she also did something different than normal: she bought her ticket from the kiosk instead of at the counter.
She was confused by the terminal message after scanning her ticket and nearly threw away her $50,000 windfall. She scanned her first ticket—a non-winner—and saw the message “not a winner.” After scanning the second ticket, again she saw a three-word message, however, the second message said, “Take to Lottery.” Hardly paying attention, she initially thought it was the same “not a winner” message. Thanks to a quick double check, she realized the message was much different. She made an appointment and claimed her prized Nov. 17 at Lottery headquarters in Baltimore.
She said she “freaked out” when she learned of her win. Prior to this win, she’d never won more than $200, she said, adding that she quickly called her parents and shared the great news.
The winner has worked as a financial analyst for 15 years. She plans to use her winnings to square up her finances and take her two sons on a vacation to the Disney resort in Hawaii.
Murphy’s Town & Country receives a $500 bonus as the retailer that sold a $50,000-winning FAST PLAY ticket.
