A scratch-off newbie from Howard County picked the right game to score a $100,000 top-prize win.
Columbia man jubilant when clerk reveals actual amount of win
He was just feeling lucky, the Howard County resident recalls telling his mom just before a $100,000 scratch-off win came his way. New to playing instant tickets, he only had about two weeks of Lottery experience but had already won $500 on his first $5 scratch-off plus $100 several other times.
His Lottery budget for the day was $30. The player, who is calling himself “Born to be Rich” to share the story of his win, visited Oakland Mills Wine & Spirits in Columbia. He bought a $10 scratch-off and four $5 scratch-offs and won $30.
Later that day, the Columbia man returned to the store cash his tickets and stood in front of the Lottery vending machine, trying to decide which games to buy with his winnings. “Should I buy six $5 ones?” he remembers asking himself. “Then, I said out loud, ‘Let me test my luck’” and he looked at the $30 games.
Two green $30 scratch-offs caught his eye. He chose the lighter green $100,000 Lucky instant ticket and took it to his vehicle. “Born to be Rich” and his dad work together at their residential cleaning company and he needed to visit the bank. While there, waiting in the car for his turn at the ATM, he picked up the scratch-off and began to play it.
“I scratched half of the ticket,” he said, and then the line at the ATM was gone so he put the scratch-off down to conduct his financial transactions.
When he finished playing the scratch-off, “Born to be Rich” had revealed an autowin symbol and, below that, what he thought was a $100 prize. What he didn’t realize was that he hadn’t fully uncovered the prize amount. Excited to win $100, the player stopped at a Lottery retailer hours later to claim his prize. He accidently rubbed too hard on the prize check area for the vending machine to read it so he asked the store clerk to cash in his $100 winning scratch-off.
“He scanned it and he made a weird face and he wrote down a number,” recalled the winner. “I said, ‘What’s wrong?’ and he said, ‘You won $100,000.’” There was no one else in the store and “Born to be Rich” began celebrating. “I was jumping with joy,” he said. “I thought it was $100 for seven hours.”
The clerk gave him the piece of paper with the prize amount and urged him to take the signed scratch-off home. “I felt like it was a Willy Wonka movie,” said “Born to be Rich.” “The clerk was like, ‘Hold onto it tight, go to the car and go right home.’ I was shaking so badly.”
He hid the scratch-off in numerous places at home while waiting to claim the prize at Lottery headquarters and kept checking on it to make sure the lucky ticket was safe. The happy winner plans to pay bills with the prize and invest the rest of the windfall.
The $100,000 Lucky scratch-off is still packed with big prizes including 27 more $100,000 top prizes, 18 $5,000 prizes and others ranging from $30 to $500. Also a winner is Oakland Mills Wine & Spirits located at 7060 Oakland Mills Road. For its role in selling a $100,000 top-prize winning scratch-off, the Howard County business will receive a $1,000 bonus from the Lottery.
