After oversleeping and missing Sunday church, an Accokeek woman felt a twinge of guilt — but found an unexpected kind of redemption later that day at a BJ’s Wholesale Club in Waldorf, where a FAST PLAY Lottery ticket turned into a $99,751 windfall.
The Prince George’s County woman was running errands July 19 when she stopped at BJ’s, 1000 St. Nicholas Drive in Waldorf. As she does whenever she gets paid, she’d set aside a few dollars for Lottery play, picking up several scratch-off tickets along with two FAST PLAY tickets. One of those, a FAST PLAY Cash Combination ticket, instantly awarded a progressive jackpot.
“Is this real?” she remembered thinking as she looked at the ticket. FAST PLAY games are printed on demand at Lottery terminals and vending machines and play like scratch-offs; select FAST PLAY games, including Cash Combination, carry progressive jackpots that grow with every non-winning ticket sold until someone hits it.
After scanning the ticket and seeing a “see Lottery” message confirming she’d need official validation, she finished her grocery shopping before calling her boyfriend to share the news. He didn’t believe her until she showed him the ticket.
A 36-year federal government employee, the winner claimed her prize Aug. 4 at Maryland Lottery headquarters in Baltimore. Prizes over $25,000 must be claimed there in person or by mail, by appointment only. She said she plans to use the winnings to pay bills, build savings, cover car repairs, help family members and take a vacation.
BJ’s Wholesale Club will receive a $997 bonus for selling the winning ticket — consistent with the roughly 1% retailer bonus the Lottery typically pays on FAST PLAY progressive jackpot sales.
