A Maryland Lottery player scratched his way to a six-figure prize, though he didn't realize it until he scanned his instant ticket days after claiming a separate $1,000 prize, officials say.
The Silver Spring resident says that he didn't notice his lucky win after scratching off the ticket, though when he scanned it out of habit, realized that he was in fact holding on to a golden ticket worth $100,000 sold at KW Beer and Wine on Piney Branch Road in his hometown.
Thinking he missed out on a top prize after scratching his $50 ticket with a penny, the Montgomery County man issued a stark reminder that players should scan their tickets to simply double-check whether or not they may have picked up a few bucks.
In this case, the habit gave the man a $100,000 prize on a $5,000,000 CASH scratch-off.
“I had goosebumps. I didn’t believe it,” he said to Lottery officials.
After seeing the winning message on the scanner, the car detailer looked at his $50 instant ticket again to find his mistake, where he realized that he had actually matched the winning number 13 that was buried at the bottom of the scratcher with the $100,000 prize underneath.
According to the big winner, he plans to pay off some bills and might look into a home renovations while he adds the six-figure prize to a $1,000 win he claimed last week.
“It is just a blessing. I never dreamt I would win that type of money,” he added.
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