Lottery player thinks he won $50 — then he ‘saw a comma and more and more zeros’
In between jobs, a Maryland landscaper made a quick stop to pick up some gasoline for his mower.
Then, “a feeling came over him that he should buy a scratch-off” ticket, Maryland Lottery officials said in a Sept. 5 news release.
“My friend had just finished playing, so I decided to try my luck too,” the man said, per the release.
The Anne Arundel County man spent his $5 in change on a Money Money Money ticket at the Deale store, lottery officials said.
As the man scratched his ticket in his car, he saw a “coin” symbol, officials said.
“I saw a five and thought it was $50,” the man told lottery officials. “But then, I saw a comma and more and more zeros.”
The man took home the game’s top prize of $50,000, or what the man called “an awesome birthday gift,” according to lottery officials.
He told family about his win before signing the ticket and tucking it away for safekeeping until he could head to lottery headquarters to claim his prize, officials said.
While the man plans to save most of his winnings, he will put a portion of it toward an upcoming vacation, lottery officials said.
Deale is about a 45-mile drive south from Baltimore.
This story was originally published September 5, 2024 at 4:40 PM with the headline "Lottery player thinks he won $50 — then he ‘saw a comma and more and more zeros’."
