Big win comes at perfect time for fan of $1,000,000 Platinum Play ticket
It goes without saying that there is never a bad time to win $50,000. However, the timing doesn’t get any more perfect that it was for a Clinton resident who described herself as “a religious Maryland Lottery scratch-off buyer.”
The 55-year-old is between jobs, which means the $50,000 prize she won on the $1,000,000 Platinum Play ticket is truly a blessing.
“I’m good for a few months, but now, with this, I’ll be able to pay off my car and give some help to a few people close to me,” said the lucky winner, adding that she hadn’t yet told a soul about her prize.
The Prince George’s County resident has been buying $1,000,000 Platinum Play instant tickets regularly because she saw on the Lottery’s website that three of the game’s four $1 million top prizes are still unclaimed.
“I’ve been trying for that million dollars and I buy a few scratch-offs every Friday,” she said.
On May 12, the store where she typically buys her $1,000,000 Platinum Play instant tickets didn’t have any available, so she stopped at Chesapeake Liquors in Clinton. She purchased two tickets at the store, which is located at 8853 Branch Avenue, and scratched them off as soon as she got home.
“I got the $50,000 on the first one – I was jumping up and down,” she said. Over the weekend, she put the lucky instant ticket in a secret hiding place to keep it safe and later moved it to another safe spot. “I said, ‘Please don’t let anything happen to me because if the ticket is hidden nobody will find it!’ ”
Monday morning, the happy winner safely arrived at Lottery headquarters in Baltimore to claim her prize. In addition to paying off her car, she plans to quietly give gifts to friends and family members. She has no plans to tell them where the money came from.
The $1,000,000 Platinum Play ticket launched in August 2016. In addition to the three remaining $1 million top prizes, the $20 instant ticket still has four unclaimed $50,000 prizes, 18 $10,000 prizes, and thousands of additional prizes ranging from $20 to $5,000.