Carroll County woman claims $10,000 top prize on 10x Cash scratch-off
Connie Toston’s second big win of 2015 is in the books! The Manchester woman wasn’t foolin’ on April Fools’ Day about winning $10,000 on the Maryland Lottery’s 10x Cash scratch-off. Her adult daughters – who were out of town – couldn’t believe her luck on that day of all days.
She now has a photo of the winning blue and green $10 ticket on her phone and another shot of herself in the Winner’s Lounge at Lottery headquarters in Baltimore to prove her story. This win follows a $10,000 scratch-off win in 2011 and two $5,000 wins, including one in February.
“I guess I’m sort of, kind of lucky,” Connie said, all smiles.
A waitress at Baugher’s Restaurant in Westminster for 17 years, Connie plays scratch-offs several times a week. She checks the Lottery website to see which tickets still have big winners awaiting discovery and, when she spots one of those tickets at a retailer, she nabs it.
Her latest win came at a retailer she frequented in the past, Number One North at 3201 Main Street in Manchester. “I hadn’t been there for a year or better,” said the grandmother of four. The 49-year-old scratched off one of the 10x Cash scratch-offs and wound up with a non-winner. However, Connie didn’t lose faith in her good fortune.
“Oh, give me one more, what the heck,” she remembers saying to the store clerk. The Carroll County resident scratched that ticket and won! “That ‘one more’ sometimes pays off,” her husband said.
She plans to pay bills with the prize and also “have some fun” with the money, maybe something involving their grandchildren. She also plans to keep an eye out for the purple and yellow 10x Cash scratch-off, which is an older $10 ticket with May 1 set as the last day to claim a prize. That 2013 ticket still has two $10,000 winners and one $1,000 winner, Connie said. She’s hoping to find one to buy soon!