David Hersl of Elkridge won the first top prize on the $2 Ravens game. |
Elkridge resident ready to relax after claiming top prize in $2 Ravens game
An Elkridge man floated into the Maryland Lottery Winner’s Circle on Monday with a big smile on his face and the paperwork for a $20,000 winning Ravens scratch-off in his hand.
“I’m on cloud nine,” said 59-year-old David Hersl. After years of playing Lottery games, the native Marylander captured his first major prize and the first top prize in the $2 game. “I’ve had plenty of $5 and $10 wins,” he said. “This is my first really big one.”
The loyal player tries his luck every Saturday, choosing from a variety of Lottery games that include scratch-offs, Mega Millions, Pick 3, Pick 4 and Powerball. “I like the scratch-offs because of their second-chance contests,” David said. In fact, that was the main reason the Howard County resident selected the Lottery’s new $2 Ravens game. If his instant ticket was not a winner, he could enter it into a second-chance promotion for the $2 and $5 Ravens scratch-offs that offers prizes such as season tickets for 20 years, $10,000 cash or travel with the team.
Is he a Ravens fan? Well … David confessed that when he relocated from Maryland to New England for work years ago, the Baltimore Ravens didn’t exist. The Colts had moved to Indianapolis, so he started rooting for the New England Patriots. He remained loyal to that team after returning to Maryland to work as a shipping manager. The lucky player admits he would love to win a big Ravens prize, though! The major sports fan has cheered on the Orioles his entire life.
Lottery luck found David at one of favorite retailers, Giant #344 in Elkridge. He bought his groceries and scratch-off at the Giant and, as always, tucked it away to play on Monday. For some reason, he decided on Sunday to change his routine and scratched the instant ticket at his kitchen table. He won!
“For 10 minutes, I was silent,” he said. “I was looking at the ticket and I looked at it at least three times.” After accepting that the scratch-off really was a big winner, David signed it and put it into his lockbox for safekeeping. He felt relief after claiming his prize at the Lottery, adding that he plans to use it to pay bills.
His lucky game still has nine unclaimed $20,000 top prizes and10 $5,000 prizes, in addition to thousands of others ranging from $2 to $1,000.
The lucky Lottery retailer also wins! The Giant store at 6020 Marshalee Drive will receive a $200 bonus from the Lottery for selling the top-prize scratch-off in the game.