Riverdale resident claims first of Gold Rush game’s $100,000 top prizes
A Riverdale resident visited Maryland Lottery headquarters this week to claim a prize that he still doesn’t believe is real.
The 46-year-old warehouse manager from Prince George’s County said he’s won small amounts plenty of times before and never thought there was a chance he’d win a large prize. But now he is finally coming to grips with the fact that he was the first $100,000 top-prize winner on the $100,000 Gold Rush scratch-off ticket.
The lucky winner, who is originally from El Salvador, plays Lottery games two or three times a week, usually with family members or friends. In fact, the cousin who was with him when he picked out his lucky instant ticket accompanied him to Lottery headquarters to claim his prize. According to his cousin, our winner was twice surprised by the lucky ticket.
“I could see by his face that something was up,” the winner’s cousin said. “He showed me the ticket telling me it was a $10,000 winner. He looked completely floored.”
Closer inspection of the ticket quickly provided a second shock for both of them.
“I looked at it and told him it was actually $100,000,” the winner’s cousin said. “There aren’t words to describe his face at that moment.”
The lucky winner plans to share his prize with his family, focusing first on his mother who has had some health difficulties recently. He also wants to take as many of them as possible on a vacation. He plans to visit the Lottery retailer that delivered his good fortune as often as he can when he’s in the mood for a ticket. And the retailer is a winner as well. The Super Convenience store at 6010 66th Avenue in Riverdale will receive a $1,000 bonus from the Lottery for selling the winning ticket.
$100,000 Gold Rush is part of a family of four Gold Rush scratch-off games that debuted in late January. The lucky Riverdale resident was the first to win a $100,000 top prize, but there are four more of them remaining to be claimed, along with eight $20,000 prizes and 19 $10,000 prizes.