Baltimore man brings home top prize in $50,000 Bingo Doubler game
“Reggie Reg” loves scratch-off games! Every day before this truck driver hits the road, he stops and plays a few scratch-offs at Jessup Shell in Jessup.
Last Friday, following his routine, the Baltimore man bought five $50,000 Bingo Doubler instant tickets. This time, however, the results were not routine. He won the first $50,000 top prize in the game!
The 52-year-old picked up the $5 scratch-offs on the way to work. Like many Maryland Lottery players, the scratch-off fan scans the barcode on games instead of scratching off the instant tickets. He won $5 and $10 on those games and purchased two more. The second of the two additional scratch-offs carried the $50,000 prize.
“I scanned that ticket six times to make sure it was a winner,” said “Reggie Reg.”
Excited, the lucky player signed the back of the scratch-off and took a detour home to lock up his winning instant ticket in a safe. The father of two adult children and grandfather of three shared the news with his wife and son and contemplated taking the day off. His wife, however, provided the voice of reason.
“She said, ‘You better take your butt to work,'” he recalled, laughing. And, after making an appointment to claim his prize at Lottery headquarters, that’s exactly what he did.
“Reggie Reg” claimed the game’s top prize this week. He said he plans to pay off his house with some of the winnings, pay some other bills and take his granddaughters to Disney when it’s safer to do so.
He left six additional $50,000 top prizes in the $50,000 Bingo Doubler game. In addition, players can try to win the nine $10,000 prizes remaining and more than 960,000 other prizes ranging from $5 to $5,000.
Jessup Shell, which sold the winning ticket, also has reason to celebrate. The Howard County store located at 8755 Washington Boulevard in Jessup will receive a $500 bonus from the Lottery for selling a top-prize winning instant ticket.