Patricia Herrington of Baltimore (right) brought her sister Cynthia Smith along to celebrate her $50,000 Yahtzee scratch-off win! |
Lucky lady says the top-prize winning scratch-off called to her
A Baltimore woman is living the dream today after claiming a $50,000 scratch-off prize won just days after her April birthday. Patricia Herrington purchased the instant ticket when she got off work, saying she felt as if “the ticket was looking at me!”
The correctional officer went to fill up her tank at US Gas in Halethorpe. While there, the scratch-off fan decided to play a couple of instant tickets. She first purchased a 50x The Cash scratch-off and won $10. The 63-year-old then took half of the winnings to purchase a $5 Yahtzee game.
“That ticket was calling out to me,” said Patricia, “so I picked one up and played it while I was still there.” She knew it was a winner right away. “The very first line was a straight, so I knew I won something.”
As Patricia continued to scratch off the instant ticket, she realized that every single line had a straight. Had she really won $50,000? Patricia asked the clerk to scan the instant ticket but he could only tell her that it was a big winner!
The lucky player went home with the top-prize winning scratch-off in her purse and tried to contact her siblings and her son to share the good news. Sadly, Patricia said, “no one answered the phone.” With her ticket by her side, the happy winner tried to sleep but failed to get much rest.
The next morning, Patricia tried contacting her family again. Success! She shared news of her good fortune and her sister, Cynthia, brought her to Lottery headquarters Monday morning to claim the $50,000 prize.
The lucky lady, who has one son in college, plans to pay bills with her big win and share some of the windfall with family members.
The Yahtzee scratch-off that debuted in August 2017 still features three unclaimed $50,000 top prizes and six $5,000 prizes. The lucky retailer is also celebrating. US Gas located at 3300 Washington Boulevard earned a $500 retailer bonus from the Lottery for selling a winning top-prize scratch-off.