Lucky winner claims prize on Instant Millionaire scratch-off ticket
A Rockville resident made a run to a local retailer for a case of beer last week and walked out with a scratch-off ticket worth $10,000.
The lucky winner is a 31-year-old HVAC technician who said he enjoys scratch-off games and Keno. He had made his beer purchase at the Food Stop Mini Mart at 4820 Boiling Brook Parkway in Rockville and was about to leave the store when he stopped and decided to try his Lottery luck.
“I saw the $20 tickets and I just had a gut feeling I should buy one of those,” he said.
He purchased an Instant Millionaire ticket, which offers a top prize of $1 million.
“I got home and watched some TV, then looked at the ticket, then watched more TV … finally I decided to scratch it,” he said. “At first I started to realize it was more than $1,000. And I was thinking maybe it’s $100,000 and hoping it was $1 million. When I tallied it all up, it was $10,000.”
He was alone when he scratched the ticket, but the next morning he told his mother and brother about his good fortune.
“My brother didn’t believe me,” he said. “I showed him a photo of the ticket. He still didn’t believe me. He said, ‘When you get the check, I’ll believe you.’”
The lucky winner said he plans to use the prize money to pay some bills and will give a gift to his mother. The $10,000 prize is the largest he has ever won. His previous best was $100, and last week, the day before buying his $10,000-winning scratch-off ticket, he won $75 on a $3 Keno game.
Instant Millionaire launched in February, and the $20 ticket still has one more $1 million top prize waiting to be found at Lottery retailers across the state, along with two $50,000 prizes and 10 more $10,000 prizes.