Germantown

A dedicated scratch-off player of 30 years almost missed a winning combination on the 7^th edition of the Deluxe Crossword game. The Montgomery County resident found four of eight winning words and only resumed scratching off the rest of the puzzles when a ticket scanner reported he won a $50,000 top prize.

The Germantown man said the excitement began when he scratched off four black words on one of the two crossword puzzles in the game. He took the winning instant ticket to a Lottery retailer to retrieve what he thought was a $5 prize. When he scanned his scratch-off to verify the win, he learned his prize was much more than $5.

Per the Maryland Lottery: “A Montgomery County mother of four and her husband will never forget two startling experiences that occurred on the same day. First, she discovered she was pregnant with the couple’s fifth child, and later she won $50,000 on a Six Figuresscratch-off.

“Two gifts for me!” the Germantown woman said with a smile. “It was a big surprise.”

So, it wasn’t the lottery purchase itself that was unusual for the 61-year-old Walmart employee, for she’s played often over the years. And, it wasn’t winning a significant prize, for she’s won big prizes. What was different?

“I usually play the Lottery just because I enjoy it,” the Germantown resident explained. “I bought this particular ticket, though, because of a feeling.” She awoke with a strange need to buy a Pick 5 ticket and a feeling that it would pay off. Her intuition didn’t give her “a specific Pick 5number,” she said. Covering all of her bases, she bought tickets for that day and the next while at Sugarloaf Wine Cellar in Germantown. “It was such a strange, super-specific feeling that I wasn’t going to ignore it.”

While a $1.35 billion Mega Millions jackpot was won on a ticket sold in Maine, Maryland had 11 Mega Millions winners last week at the $10,000 level and one at the $20,000 level. In all, the seven days ending Jan. 15 produced 51 winning tickets worth $10,000 or more that were redeemed or sold across Maryland, and the Lottery paid more than $32.5 million in prizes during that span.

Winners of prizes larger than $25,000 must redeem their tickets at the Maryland Lottery Claims Center in Baltimore, which is open by appointment only. Prizes of up to $5,000 can be claimed at any of more than 400 Expanded Cashing Authority Program (XCAP) locations. All Maryland Lottery retailers are authorized to redeem tickets up to and including $600. More information is available on the How To Claim page of mdlottery.com.

An 18-year-old Germantown woman came to Maryland Lottery headquarters with her parents in tow, eager to share her exciting experience. The Lottery novice won big the first time she played a scratch-off and was claiming a $30,000 top prize on the Peppermint Payout game. For her first Christmas as an adult, the lucky woman received a few scratch-offs from her parents. She had luck on three of the instant tickets, winning $1, $2, and $30,000. “We gave them to her as a stocking stuffer,” her dad explained. The Montgomery County resident is a college student majoring in Digital Arts. She plans to put the scratch-off prize into her savings account. “It was shocking and a weird feeling” to win, she said, adding, “it was surreal.”

Another winner in this story was Shoppers #2362 located at 18066 Mateny Road in Germantown. The Montgomery County store will receive a $300 bonus from the Lottery for selling a $30,000 top-prize winning instant ticket.  The Peppermint Payout game is still loaded with sweet prizes. Since it went on sale on Oct. 17, players have found four of the $3 game’s eight $30,000 top prizes. The game also has more than 450,000 unclaimed prizes ranging from $3 to $500. Featured photo courtesy of Google Maps