BALTIMORE COUNTY, MARYLAND – A Baltimore County retiree began his lucky Lottery day running errands. After visiting the dentist and taking his wife to work, the 69-year-old got a gut feeling that he should buy Lottery games.
The Randallstown resident did just that at Normandy Wine & Spirits located at 8492 Baltimore-National Pike in Ellicott City. He had $25 to spare so he bought five of the $5 Find the 9s scratch-offs. Three were winners and one of the three carried a $50,000 top prize.
“I didn’t believe it at first,” he said. After reading the play instructions, he saw that he could win with 9s or by revealing three identical symbols in the same game. He analyzed his instant tickets, and realized that on one of them, he had 10 rows with three matching symbols, worth $5,000 per row.
The happy husband and father shared news of his good fortune with his wife of 40 years but no one else — yet. Eventually, he plans to share his news with his children. Retired from the railroad industry for three years, the player spends his days running errands, playing Lottery games and playing golf. He currently has no plans for his big win other than putting the money into the bank for safekeeping.
His lucky Howard County retailer, Normandy Wine & Spirits, will receive a $500 bonus from the Lottery for selling a $50,000 top-prize winning scratch-off.
The Find the 9s instant ticket went on sale in June and still has four top prizes remaining along with six $5,000 prizes.