Baltimore man buys lucky Ravens ticket in parking lot at M&T Bank Stadium
Nov. 1 was a good day for the Baltimore Ravens, and an even better day for one football fan who won the biggest Lottery prize of his life while tailgating in the parking lot at M&T Bank Stadium.
The Ravens broke a three-game losing streak with a 29-26 victory against the San Diego Chargers. Before the game, a 43-year-old Baltimore resident found Lottery luck when he purchased four $5 Ravens scratch-offs from a Lottery hawker who was selling tickets to tailgaters.
“We were there pretty early, tailgating before the game, and I decided to get four tickets and my girlfriend said, ‘Don’t get four, that’s $20, get two’ ” the lucky winner said. “But I got the four.”
That decision turned out to be worth $10,000.
“On the first two I got nothing,” he said. “And then, the third one, I was scratching and I saw the ‘20X’ with $500 under it. And I was trying to figure out, ‘Am I a winner?’ I thought maybe it’s $500, and people were looking at it telling me it’s 20 times $500. I must have read the instructions on the ticket 800 times.”
After checking the ticket at the Lottery booth, the medical worker confirmed his $10,000 prize.
“I was thrilled, everyone was jealous,” he said.
And there was one person who perhaps was the most jealous of all.
“My girlfriend’s friend bought two tickets right after me, and if I had only bought two instead of four, she would have gotten the $10,000,” he said.
The lucky winner said he plays scratch-offs occasionally and also enjoys Mega Millions and Powerball. But the largest prize he had won prior to this was $75. He said he plans to donate some of his prize money to a favorite charity – either a homeless shelter or pit bull rescue – and is thinking about planning a trip with his girlfriend.
The Maryland Lottery and the Baltimore Ravens have partnered to produce an annual scratch-off ticket for seven years. This season’s ticket launched in July and two of its $100,000 top prizes are still waiting to be found. There also are five remaining $10,000 prizes. If your Ravens ticket isn’t a winner, you can enter it into the Ravens second-chance contests for chances to win season tickets for 2016, season tickets for 20 years and cash prizes.