A Charles County mother of three was left one night short of family dinners after a grocery store trip, so she decided to pick up subs. She didn’t expect that her subs purchase would lead her to a $100,000 Lottery prize.
The lucky winner, who remained anonymous, told Lottery officials that she had no intention of buying an instant ticket that night at Wawa #565 in Waldorf. “It was my daughter who mentioned it,” she explained. “She enjoys cleaning up after I scratch tickets and hitting me up for presents when I win.”
With her family’s dinner in hand, the 38-year-old approached the store’s self-serve vending machine with her mind on a specific game – the 50 Years! Scratch-off. Her sister, who is an avid Lottery player, had told her about the game a few days prior.
After scratching off the $50 instant ticket later that evening, the Waldorf woman was shocked. “I saw a symbol that the rules said was an automatic $100,000 win. I knew it couldn’t be true, so I studied every inch of the ticket to see if I could find other rules that made it not a winner, but everything looked right.”
Still, in doubt, she downloaded the Lottery app to end any confusion. “My husband was sure that I was wrong, but the Lottery app convinced us both. We won $100,000!”
The 50 Years! the game went on sale in February, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Maryland Lottery. This $100,000 second-tier win is the first one claimed, leaving eight still in circulation. Two of the game’s $5 million top-prize winning instant tickets are also available, along with five $50,000 prizes and 77 $10,000 prizes.
The lucky lady said she hadn’t slept much since the big win. “I just keep thinking about it, about how blessed we are. I am so grateful to God for this. We will be doing good things with this money.”
Lottery officials remind players always to play responsibly.