Keith Jackson, a father of three and full-time cook, became the fourth top-prize winner of the LOTERIA™ Grande scratch-off! |
Last-minute Thanksgiving grocery trip leads to LOTERIA™ Grande top prize
Keith Jackson, a father of three and a full-time cook at a local restaurant, served up the fourth $50,000 top prize on the LOTERIA™ Grande scratch-off!
The Worcester County man’s lucky scratch-off came from a quick trip to the store to pick up last-minute items for his mother for Thanksgiving. After buying two LOTERIA™ Grande instant tickets at Eden Quick Stop in Eden, Keith placed the scratch-offs in his glove compartment and completely forgot about them for several days. He was driving with his friend to a shopping mall in Salisbury when he recalled his purchase.
“All of the sudden, I remembered I had a couple of scratch-offs in the glove compartment,” Keith said. “I asked her to grab the tickets and scratch them both right there in the car. Next thing I knew, she was yelling at me to pull over to the next Lottery retailer! I kept asking, ‘What’s wrong?’ but she wouldn’t tell me.”
The first instant ticket that Keith’s friend played was a $20 winner. After scratching off the second $5 instant ticket, Keith’s friend saw that one of the two playboards had four matching symbols — the rose, flowerpot, hand and pear — to give him the big instant win. “We went inside and checked the ticket on the machine, and a sign said to go to the Maryland Lottery,” Keith said, laughing, “so here I am!”
The 55-year-old Pocomoke City resident claimed his prize this week after making the two and half hour drive to the Baltimore headquarters of the Maryland Lottery.
Our big winner has a lot of plans for his newfound fortune. He will give his mom, who sent him to the store where he picked up his winning ticket, a portion of his $50,000 prize. Then, he will begin planning a trip to a destination he has wanted to visit all his life: Jamaica. After giving his friend who scratched off the instant ticket a nice gift, he will save the rest for a rainy day.
The Somerset County retailer also has reason to celebrate. For selling the top-prize scratch-off in the game, the Eden Quick Stop located at 31680 Eden Allen Road earns a $500 bonus from the Lottery. The bonus is equal to 1 percent of the prize.
The $5 LOTERIA™ Grande game went on sale in March 2019 and still has three unclaimed top prizes available. Players can also search for five $1,000 prizes and thousands of others ranging from $5 to $500.