“Slingshot” of Baltimore, an avid Maryland Lottery player, used the prize from a relatively small win to buy a scratch-off that delivered a $100,000 top prize. |
Baltimore player spending prize on cruising three-wheeler for brother
A Maryland Lottery player from Baltimore who goes by the nickname “Slingshot” is methodical when she plays scratch-offs. The 65-year-old clears the latex from the games’ winning numbers, then scratches to reveal the numbers — not the prizes — on the instant tickets.
She followed that routine after buying a 50X the Cash scratch-off from Giant #337 in Baltimore. The lucky woman checked the $10 game’s 25 numbers and realized that one of them, an 8, matched her winning numbers. She scratched the prize area below the 8 to find out how much she won.
“I looked at it and said, ‘Wait a minute,’” said “Slingshot,” recalling the moment when she realized she had an instant ticket worth $100,000. In a state of near disbelief, “Slingshot” called her brother to share the moment with him. The reality of her Lottery luck quickly settled in.
While her brother, a class car enthusiast, has restored a vehicle to perfect condition, he also has his eye on three-wheelers. They are the latest focus of cruising-vehicle enthusiasts. Three-wheelers have two wheels in the front and one in the back. Specifically, “Slingshot’s” brother has his eye on the Polaris Slingshot and his winning sister agreed to spend a portion of her prize on one.
The brother accompanied “Slingshot” to Maryland Lottery headquarters in Baltimore to claim her prize and both were all smiles. A sister is the only other person who knows about the top-prize scratch-off win.
As for herself, “Slingshot” plans to enjoy her prize by taking a vacation and having a celebratory meal. The specifics of how she will spend most of her windfall are up in the air.
“Slingshot” is a loyal player who wins regularly, but never more than a few hundred dollars. She once won $500 twice in one day, which was her top prize until now. She will buy a set number of instant tickets and scratch them. If she wins a small amount, she buys more scratch-offs and keeps playing. If not, there’s always next time. Explaining the technique, she broke briefly into song: “You’ve got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em…”
On her lucky trip to the Giant at 6780 Reisterstown Road, she won a few dollars in her first purchase and continued playing. That’s when she went from lucky to top-prize lucky. The 50X the Cash scratch-off still has two $100,000 top prizes remaining along with three $50,000 prizes and eight $10,000 prizes.
Giant #337 also gets lucky for selling a winning scratch-off at the $100,000 level. The Lottery will give the grocery a $1,000 bonus for its winning sale.
