Hot instant ticket provides biggest win ever for 80-year-old loyal player
A longtime Maryland Lottery player from Salisbury got a big surprise when she was playing a $3 Diamond Bingo scratch-off: she hit for the top $30,000 prize.
“She said, ‘Come look at this ticket! Come look at this ticket! I think I won,’” said the winner’s daughter, who accompanied her mom to Maryland Lottery headquarters in Baltimore to claim the prize. The daughter looked and confirmed her mom’s lucky win in the game, which was so popular it is the second edition issued by the Lottery.
The scratch-off has four bingo cards in the play area. On the fourth card, the caller’s numbers matched enough numbers on the board to form an X, which translated to the $30,000 top prize. Her biggest previous Lottery win was $500.
Asked about plans for her prize, the 80-year-old player said, “I’ve got so much to do with it.” She went on to say she would start by making some repairs to her house. And, asked whether she would continue playing Lottery games, the retiree said, “Oh, yeah,” and pulled out two new Diamond Bingo scratch-offs she purchased the previous day.
The $30,000 prize she claimed was the last of seven that were on the instant ticket when it went on sale in July 2021. The game proved very popular, with more than 73 percent of the tickets in the game sold as of this week, just nine months after it first went on sale.
She bought her lucky scratch-off at T’s Market, 400 North Salisbury Boulevard in Salisbury. For selling the top-prize winning scratch-off, the shop receives a bonus of $300, equal to 1% of the prize, from the Lottery.
