$100K Winning Lotto Ticket Helps District Heights Retiree Pay Down Debt

DISTRICT HEIGHTS, MD — A retired Prince George's County man couldn't believe his luck when the Scratch and Match game he bought recently won $100,000.

The winner told Maryland Lottery officials, when he claimed his windfall, that his intuition had guided him to a different ticket.

“You know, some tickets call out to you,” he said. “Well, it was something about the Scratch and Match game that drew me to it.”

The District Heights man had stopped at the Wawa in Capitol Heights to buy some scratch-offs, and although the bingo tickets are his favorite, he bought one of those and a Scratch and Match that was calling his name.

His process is to scratch the numbers first, look for any matches, then scratch the prizes to see what he'd won. But, on the Scratch and Match game, the winner first saw a “stack of cash” symbol, which meant an automatic prize, but he kept scratching.

“So, then I get another ‘Stack of Cash’ and finished playing the game,” he said. “I was shocked when I saw the first $50,000 prize and blown away when I saw the other $50,000.”

The surprised player said his wife walked in the room as his prize was revealed and he immediately showed her the ticket.

“I had to look twice,” said the winner’s wife, who accompanied him to claim the prize at lottery headquarters in Baltimore. “I thought it was a lesser prize at first, but it really was two $50,000 prizes.”

The winner wanted to confirm his win, so he went to his favorite lottery retailer, who verified the $100,000 prize and provided information on how to claim the winnings.

The Prince George's County man said he will use his winnings to pay off some bills and help family as needed.

The Wawa at 1401 Hampton Park Blvd. in Capitol Heights, where the ticket was bought, receives a $1,000 bonus.