Pasadena Buddies: 'We Are Winners'

PASADENA, MD — Pasadena buddies Mario and José, who spend a lot of time together as friends and business partners, just shared another experience that gave them lots of Lottery cash. They won a $10,000 prize on the Maryland Lottery’s 100x The Cash scratch-off.

“We stop along our travels and buy scratch-off tickets all the time,” Mario told Lottery officials. On the day they found Lottery luck, the two visited Eastern Avenue Hess, 5802 Eastern Ave. in Baltimore.

“We rarely buy the more expensive tickets, but we felt lucky so we bought the $20 100x The Cash ticket,” he said. “As we scratched the ticket, we noticed all of our numbers were showing up on the ticket. We were certain we had won, but we asked a friend to look at the ticket as well. Suddenly, at the same time, we all said, ‘We are winners!’ ”

The two men plan to expand their business with some of the prize and celebrate with a nice dinner with their families. They also will continue to play scratch-offs and hope to return to Lottery headquarters soon to claim another big prize.

»Photo of Scratch-off friends Mario and Jose, who pose in style with the check showing their $10,000 win. Courtesy of Maryland Lottery