About three years ago, a longtime Lottery player from Hagerstown started noticing people jumping up and down after checking their scratch-off tickets, so he decided to start playing scratch-offs too.
His first memorable win — $3,000 — came a few months later. Then, on June 16 he was at Lottery headquarters in Baltimore because he won considerably more than that: a $50,000 prize on the $5 Winning Streak scratch-off.
But he wasn’t jumping up and down when he first scratched the ticket because he wasn’t sure if he’d won.
“When I scanned it on the vending machine. It said ‘Take to Lottery,’” he said after claiming his prize.
At first, he took the ticket home and examined it more carefully. He noticed that he had a match of a fingers crossed symbol over a $50,000 prize amount. Not entirely convinced of his good fortune, he took the ticket back to the store where he bought it and asked the clerk to check for him.
He recalls she told him in a hushed tone, “Sir, congratulations. You’ve just won $50,000. Now get in your car, go home and make an appointment to claim.”
“It’s a miracle!” he said, adding he is thankful for his good fortune. The winner said the prize money will come in handy to pay some upcoming expenses.
And he is hopeful about the prospect of continuing to play and winning big again.
“I have big hopes!” he said.
The store with the helpful clerk where he bought the ticket is the Sheetz at 1300 East Patrick Street in Frederick. He had gone in to buy a bottle of water, but the Lottery vending machine caught his eye and he bought a few tickets and won. The store gets lucky too, picking up a bonus of $500 for selling the winning ticket.
The Winning Streak ticket made its debut in February, and two more of its $50,000 top prizes remain unclaimed, along with thousands of additional prizes ranging from $5 to $5,000.
