$10K Win Helps Severn Mom Get Ready for Christmas

SEVERN, MD — With Christmas just a couple of weeks away, a 34-year-old mother of three young children couldn’t be happier about her recent brush with Maryland Lottery luck. The Severn woman won $10,000 playing the new scratch-off game, The Big $10 Ticket.

The occasional scratch-off player was getting off work at Giant when she stopped at Luckies Market at 8290 Portsmouth Drive in Severn to pick up a few things and to cash a $53 winning Keno ticket.

“I decided to use the winnings to purchase some scratch-offs,” she said. “I normally don’t buy the $10 tickets, but I thought, ‘Why not!’ ” She picked up three games, including The Big $10 Ticket, which she scratched off in her car. Right away, she knew that she held a lucky instant ticket. She usually scratches off the winning numbers first and then reveals the numbers from right to left, leaving the prize amounts to reveal last.

“The very first prize I saw was $100 and the next was $1,000,” she said with a smile. “I thought, ‘This can’t be real.’ ” The lucky Anne Arundel County resident continued to find a prize under each number and added them up to $10,000! She immediately went home and shared the news with her mom, husband and three children.

“The kids were so excited, jumping up and down and screaming,” she said, “even though they didn’t completely understand.” The winner admitted to having a restless weekend waiting for the day when she could claim the $10,000 prize at Lottery headquarters in Baltimore.

The winner says she plans to use the money to pay off some credit card bills and to use for Christmas. She also plans to set some of the prize aside as a rainy day fund.