A Maryland Lottery player from Middle River enjoys playing scratch-offs because he likes the idea of winning big. In the past, he’s enjoyed a few surprises of winning more than $100, but recently he was especially taken aback when he saw $100,000 under a matching number on the 50X the Cash scratch-off he was holding.
“I was confused when I saw the ticket. I thought it must be a misprint!” he said July 6 when he claimed his prize at Lottery headquarters in Baltimore.
He purchased the ticket at the Royal Farms store at 12545 Eastern Avenue in Dundalk and took it home to scratch at his leisure. When he saw the match, he said, “my brain said $100,000, but I thought, it must be $100. This can’t be real.”
Sure enough, however, it was real. He called his wife and gave her the cryptic message, “We need to talk.” He recalls her saying it sounded like he had bad news, so he assured her it was good news, but he didn’t want to talk about it on the phone.
The winner reports he and his wife agreed they would save the winnings, though there would be discussions about what kinds of investments are to be made.
“The last thing I want to do is spend it!” he said. He will, however, continue his practice of buying Lottery tickets from time to time.
The $10 50X the Cash game went on sale at the beginning of the year with nine $100,000 top prizes. The Middle River winner’s prize leaves two top prizes remaining. There are also five $50,000 prizes still active on the game.
The Royal Farms that sold the ticket receives a $1,000 bonus.
