Wheaton Woman leaves Lottery Ticket Unscratched for weeks, Wins $50K

Kristen Harrison-Oneal

WHEATON, MARYLAND – A Wheaton woman bought a selection of Maryland Lottery scratch-offs in December as she often does during the holidays. Unlike other years, she put the games aside this time and forgot about them until after Groundhog Day. She then pulled the instant tickets out, scratched them off and one turned out to be worth $50,000.

“I just kept laughing,” the 42-year-old winner said on Feb. 16 when she claimed her prize on a Power 5s ticket bought weeks ago. Even as she claimed the prize, she couldn’t contain her laugher, breaking out in giggles several times while talking about her win.

Her scratch-off purchases took place on New Year’s Eve. The scratch-off fan, who had dinner plans, decided the time was right to make her holiday Lottery purchases. She went to two shops, including Young Gourmet Beer & Wine at 3422 Olney Laytonsville Road in Olney, to buy a selection of instant tickets.

Then, she didn’t give the games another thought for a month and a half.


“I usually buy tickets for me, my dad and my mom, and they usually win,” she said between laughs. The winner reports that her dad’s reaction when she told him about the big prize was, “I’m not even jealous!”

A contractual worker, the winner says her windfall will go into savings to provide a financial cushion in case she has an unusually long break between jobs.

Also scoring a win is Young Gourmet Beer & Wine, which picks up a $500 bonus from the Lottery for selling a $50,000 top-prize winning scratch-off. The bonus is equal to 1 percent of the prize.

The $5 Power 5s game, which went on sale in November, still has five $50,000 top prizes remaining along with 10 unclaimed $5,000 prizes.

Here are our latest stories about other lottery winners

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