Deale Woman Wins Top Lottery Game Prize

DEALE, MD — After a long day of work at her first, and then her second job, a Deale woman says she enjoys playing a Maryland Lottery scratch-off to relax. The state employee buys one instant ticket almost every day. She was experiencing a run of good luck earlier this month when she bought a $5 Home Run Riches scratch-off that delivered a $50,000 top prize.

“I’ve won $500 three times in the last month,” the 43-year-old said in a Maryland Lottery news release. “There’s no way I could expect more than that, right? I mean, three wins like that in a few weeks is about the best you can do.”

On a recent Friday night the winner stopped at Captain Kidd’s Beer, Wine & Spirits in Deale to buy a scratch-off.

“I picked out Home Run Riches because, even though it’s a $5 game, its smallest prize is $10,” she said. “I like that.” Scratching her instant ticket off that night, she was pleased to see a match and revealed the corresponding prize.

“First there was a 5, so I knew it had to be $50. Then, a second zero made it $500.” The happy player was so amazed that her $500 winning streak had continued that she started to get up to show the scratch-off to her mom. That’s when she realized some of the prize amount was still hidden. The space hid two more zeroes.

“I was just amazed,” she said. “I just sat there for a minute or two staring at the ticket. Then, I started to run around the room.” The Anne Arundel County woman asked her mom to confirm that she saw the same thing – a match worth $50,000. Mom confirmed the win once, twice and a few more times that night and twice more the next morning. “There wasn’t much sleeping in our house that night,” the winner said in the news release.

What will she do with the prize? The winner plans to pay several bills, take care of some family debt and set money aside for future trips.

“I didn’t expect to win those $500 prizes. I really didn’t expect to win this $50,000. Now, I know there’s no way I can win big again but, just in case,” she said, she’s sticking to her practice of playing a scratch-off after work.

Also celebrating their customer’s big win is the Lottery retailer. Captain Kidd’s located at 5823 Deale-Churchton Road earned a $500 bonus from the Lottery for selling a top-prize scratch-off in the game.

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