CLINTON, MD — A 70-year-old Maryland Lottery player from Clinton is looking forward to a bit of fun and adventure after winning a $50,000 third-tier Powerball prize. With no grand changes planned for his life, the winner visited Maryland Lottery headquarters on Aug. 18 to claim his prize and revealed some simple yet exciting plans for the money.
“Bucket list,” he replied when asked about his intentions for the prize money. Specifically, he plans to fulfill two long-held dreams: fishing in a boat on the ocean and taking a cruise to Puerto Rico. His brother, who accompanied him to claim the prize, pointed out that he could potentially combine both activities into one trip and still have funds left over.
Though he’s never done either, the winner believes they would be enjoyable additions to his otherwise simple life. “I just like the simple life,” he explained, a philosophy that extends even to his lottery playing habits.
The winner’s general practice with lottery tickets is to purchase them, toss them in a bucket, and check them later, without much thought as to where he bought them or for which drawing. That’s why, he admitted, he didn’t initially know where he had bought the winning ticket.
After a bit of digging, he discovered that he “got lucky with that one” from the July 22 Powerball drawing. The quick-pick ticket, which matched four of the five white balls and the red Powerball number, was sold at Tucker’s Liquors at 8100 Old Alexandria Ferry Road in Clinton. Nearly a month after the drawing, he claimed his prize and set his sights on the ocean and Puerto Rico, proof that sometimes simple dreams can lead to great joy.