Long line for lottery tickets almost stops Maryland player. But her wait paid off
When faced with a long store line on New Year’s Day, one Maryland woman debated passing on trying out a new lottery scratch-off.
“I love the newer scratch-offs and always buy new,” the player told Maryland Lottery officials in a Jan. 8 news release.
As she pondered waiting out the line, a nearby vending machine from the Maryland Lottery opened up, and the woman took her opportunity.
“I stepped right up and bought two ‘$’ (Dollar Sign) tickets,” the player said. The game launched Dec. 28.
She took the tickets back to her Anne Arundel County home and waited until later that night to scratch them, she said.
She started in the bonus section of one of the tickets, to no luck.
Then, she moved down the ticket to the game and scratched off the top prize.
“I had to do a double take,” she told officials. “I had to scan it with my phone to be sure.”
The lottery app confirmed she had won $50,000.
“I knew she would win one day,” her mother, who accompanied the woman to claim her prize, told lottery officials. She was the first one the woman told about the winning news.
After telling her mother, the woman woke up her sleeping husband and showed him the “congratulations” message on her phone screen, officials said.
Still half-asleep, her husband didn’t believe the win was real until he saw the winning ticket in her hand, she said.
She doesn’t yet have a plan for the winnings, lottery officials said.
It’s the second top prize won since the game’s launch, with six still remaining, according to the lottery.
Anne Arundel County is just south of Baltimore and includes the region along Chesapeake Bay.
This story was originally published January 8, 2024 at 4:03 PM with the headline "Long line for lottery tickets almost stops Maryland player. But her wait paid off."
