Bel Air Retailer Sells $30K Lottery Ticket

BEL AIR, MD — A Belcamp man who has never purchased a lottery ticket won $30,000 recently on a scratch-off, according to the Maryland Lottery.

It was Walker Bazemore's 26th birthday, and his sister gave him a "Polar Payout" ticket to celebrate.

She had been picking up a last-minute request of sour cream on her way to his birthday party when she bought him the scratch-off at EZ Quick Food Market on Calvary Road in Bel Air.

“My sister had exactly $3 in change, so she bought me a $3 lottery ticket,” Bazemore said. “I have never bought a lottery ticket in my life – still haven’t – so it was a new experience when she gave it to me.”

When he scratched off the ticket and learned he won $30,000, he did not believe it at first.

“My sister is a prankster; we both are,” Bazemore told lottery officials. “We’re always trying to get one another. I really thought it was a joke when I saw the $30,000, that it was a fake ticket.”

To double-check, he went to another lottery retailer before his birthday party to make sure it was real.

Bazemore, an engineering technician who just bought a condo and has college student loan debt, said he plans to put the winnings toward bills.

He said: “This really is a life-changer for me.”

The EZ Quick Food Market at 2105 Calvary Road, which sold the ticket, will receive a $300 bonus for selling a top-prize scratch-off.

Photo of Walker Bazemore courtesy of the Maryland Lottery. Image of EZ Quick Food Market via Google.