Delaware man scores playing 50 Years! anniversary-themed game
“I am not a Lottery player,” a Delaware man told Lottery officials on Monday after claiming his $50,000 prize on the 50 Years! scratch-off. He rarely buys instant tickets and would certainly not have purchased the game that brought him to Baltimore if not for a vision that he just can’t explain.
The story of his big win begins with the painter contemplating his family’s finances. The 47-year-old told Lottery officials that an image of a Royal Farms store popped into his head and wouldn’t go away. “It wasn’t just any Royal Farms, it was the one on Pulaski Highway in Elkton,” he explained. “I drive by it sometimes, but have zero connection to it past that.”
So strong was his vision of the store that the Middletown, Delaware resident got up off of the couch and hopped in the car. “I was trying to make sense of this thing as I drove and couldn’t, until I thought of the Lottery.”
Assuming that Royal Farms #101 carried Lottery products, he arrived at the store located at 1199 East Pulaski Highway in Elkton. He confirmed that the store sold Lottery games and then looked over the selection of games.
“It didn’t feel like I was supposed to wait for a drawing so I looked over the scratch tickets,” he said. His eyes stopped on 50 Years!, a $50 scratch-off issued in celebration of the Lottery’s 50th anniversary. He bought two games and scratched them right there in the store.
“I saw what I thought was a $10,000 winner, it was a real stunner.” Keeping his cool in the crowded store, the player left and drove home to tell his wife the good news. It wasn’t until more than a week later that he realized his win was much larger.
“I took the ticket to a bigger store that I thought could cash a $10,000 ticket.” While it turned out that he’d been incorrect (the biggest prize a Lottery retailer can pay is $5,000), he still left happy. “While I was there, the clerk helped me figure out that I’d misread one of the prize symbols. The ticket was a $50,000 winner. You should have seen my wife’s face when I got home!”
The 50 Years! instant ticket debuted last month. Our Delaware winner claimed the first of the game’s six $50,000 third-tier prizes. The anniversary scratch-off still has two $5 million top prizes remaining as well as all nine $100,000 second-tier prizes and 80 $10,000 prizes.
