Tile Contractor Floored by First Big Lottery Prize

Havre de Grace resident wins $10,000 on Big Play Crossword scratch-off

186-Big-Play-Crossword-ITVM_P2-blueA 48-year-old self-employed tile contractor who has played Maryland Lottery games for years was simply floored by his first big win, which arrived courtesy of a Big Play Crossword scratch-off.

The Havre de Grace resident won a few dollars on two scratch-off games last week and cashed in his tickets at Cliff’s Cut-Rate Liquors, located at 4725 Road in Darlington. He bought a $10 Big Play Crossword scratch-off, took the ticket home and scratched it. Slowly but surely, he realized he was sitting on a big winner.

“I started scratching it and got $100 and I was happy already, and then I got $500 and I was really happy and then I got the last letter of the ninth word – that was a shocker,” the lucky winner said. “Ecstasy … anytime you win money it’s a wonderful thing.”

His ticket matched nine words, giving him a $10,000 prize!

Our winner said he called his friends and his mother with the good news, and also took a moment to think about his late father, who was a regular lottery player in Pennsylvania. The Harford County resident said he doesn’t play Lottery games on a frequent basis, but has won small amounts from time to time. He enjoys the Big Play Crossword game because “it’s more time-consuming to play” than other scratch-off games.

The happy man plans to use his prize to pay off his truck, pay bills and possibly make a trip to Ocean City.

The Big Play Crossword game launched Dec. 29, and there are still four top prizes of $100,000 that have not yet been claimed, along with nine $10,000 prizes.