Frederick County resident wins top prize playing Jumbo Cash game
A Frederick man told Lottery officials that he couldn’t explain why he bought the Jumbo Cash scratch-off that produced the $250,000 top prize he claimed this week. While he does play the Lottery frequently, he explained, the lucky purchase broke one of the rules that he’s stuck to over the years.
“I never pay more than $5 for a Lottery ticket,” the security specialist said. “Well, maybe I have once or twice in the last 30 years, but really, I almost never do.” On Mother’s Day, he visited a Sheetz convenience store in Frederick and it was there that, for some reason, he wavered on his price-point policy.
In the market for a cold drink and a snack, buying a Lottery ticket was the last thing on his mind. “I saw the vending machine and for some reason my eyes went straight to the Jumbo Cash game.” Noticing the instant ticket’s $10 price, he almost walked away. “I was about to leave when I thought to myself, ‘Why not?’”
The fruits of the Frederick County man’s deviation from routine were revealed moments later out in his car. “The first thing I said — and I said it out loud to myself — was, ‘This can’t be right.’” Knowing his daughter had the Maryland Lottery app on her phone, our winner called to be sure she was home and drove directly to her house to have his biggest-ever win confirmed. “We were in shock. Absolute, complete shock.”
Our Frederick winner and his wife (who still refuses to believe this is really happening) will use their prize to pay off some debt and prepare for retirement. As for his Lottery ticket-price policy, the scratch-off player plans to stick with it “except, you know, when ‘something’ tells me not to.”
Jumbo Cash arrived on retailers’ shelves in late April. This Mother’s Day $250,000 top-prize win is the game’s first. Four top prizes remain, as well as four $50,000 and 25 $10,000 lower-tier winners. The owners of Sheetz at 5601 Buckeystown Pike will receive a $1,000 bonus from the Lottery for selling a top-prize winning instant ticket of $100,000 or more.
