A retired teacher from Middletown has spent years enjoying Lottery games with his wife, and, thanks to her encouragement, he recently scratched his way to a $30,000 prize on the Bonus Crossword 8th Edition scratch-off.
The winner visited Maryland Lottery headquarters Aug. 3 with his son to claim his prize and share the story behind his win.
The winner said his wife deserves all the credit for getting him interested in playing the Lottery. The couple has made a tradition of picking up scratch-offs together over the years, with crossword and bingo being their favorites.
The winning moment came during a stop at one of his favorite Lottery retailers, the Shell gas station at 4304 Old National Pike in Frederick. While browsing he noticed that the Bonus Crossword game had a new edition, which went on sale starting earlier this year, and decided to give it a try.
After scratching the ticket, he scanned it in the store. The message revealed a $30,000 prize. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
“I checked it several more times at different locations just to make sure, I wanted to be certain that first scan was real,” he said.
Once the reality sank in, he immediately called his son to share the news. Aside from a few close family members, the winner has kept his good fortune private.
After taking a few days to discuss their plans, the winner and his wife decided the prize will go toward paying some bills, with the remaining proceeds being set aside for savings.
When we asked him if this win will change his Lottery routine, the retired teacher says not much.
“I’ll probably keep playing every now and then,” he said, “But I won’t make a habit of it.”
He isn’t the only one cashing out: for selling the $30,000 winning scratch-off, the retailer will receive a $300 bonus.
