$50K Winning Lottery Ticket Purchased In Rockville

ROCKVILLE, MD — A loyal lottery game player from Montgomery County just struck gold.

The winner, who dubbed the prize "Lucky Player," takes multiple breaks throughout the week to play scratch-offs. Over the years, he's picked up $500 and $1,000 prizes, Maryland Lottery officials said.

"All of the stores, they know me," said the 46-year-old man, who moved from Africa and recently became a U.S. citizen.

While the loyal lottery player has won his fair share of prizes, this one was very, very different.

We're talking about $50,000 here.

The prize was so big that he had to travel to the Maryland Lottery headquarters in Baltimore. The Montgomery County resident purchased the winning Stacks of Ca$h scratch-off at a 7-Eleven in Rockville, according to officials.

When he began scratching the $5 game, he was surprised to find one of his winning numbers, 28, on the first line with $5,000 under it.

"I had to stop for a second!" he said.

As he continued, the prize got bigger.

"Lucky Player" told lottery officials that he is thrilled with his prize. However, he wants to stay incognito until he spends some of his newfound wealth. The plan: use the prize to help buy a small townhouse or condo.

Until his post-victory spending plan is finalized, he said: "I don't want anyone to know."

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