ROCKVILLE, MD – A Washington, D.C. maintenance worker who calls himself “I’ll Be Back” walked away with the first $50,000 Early Bird prize from Maryland Lottery’s new Holiday Raffle game.
The winner, an avid coffee drinker and lottery enthusiast, claimed his prize on Tuesday after learning that his ticket, purchased earlier this month, matched the winning number in the Nov. 24 drawing.
He bought his $20 raffle ticket at the 7-Eleven on Gaither Road in Rockville on Nov. 13 — the same stop he makes every morning for coffee.
He said the purchase came at the suggestion of his girlfriend, who called him that morning and told him to add a Holiday Raffle ticket to his usual order.
After checking the results together, the couple realized they held a winning ticket worth $50,000 and made an appointment to claim the prize the next day.
Winner plans to pay off his car and hit the golf course
The D.C. resident said the first thing he plans to do with his winnings is pay off his car loan. “That way I won’t have any bills,” he said.
A longtime golf fan, he’s also considering using part of his prize to take a trip to Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina, one of the country’s most famous golf destinations.
Confident about his future luck, “I’ll Be Back” said he has already won $25,000 from the DC Lottery in the past and plans to keep playing big jackpot games such as Powerball, Mega Millions, and Cash4Life.
“Anything that can get me done working!” he joked.
More Holiday Raffle prizes to come
While his ticket is no longer eligible for the remaining Early Bird drawings, it will still be entered in the final drawing on Jan. 2, which offers a $1 million top prize.
Two more $50,000 Early Bird prizes will be awarded on Dec. 8 and Dec. 22. The final drawing will also include 10 prizes of $100,000 and 10,000 smaller prizes ranging from $50 to $500.
The Holiday Raffle, which launched Nov. 3, has a limit of 325,000 tickets, each costing $20 and sold sequentially at all Maryland Lottery retailers.