MIDDLE RIVER, Md. – A quick decision on New Year’s Day turned into a life-changing surprise for a Middle River woman who won $100,000 in the Maryland Lottery’s Holiday Raffle. The longtime bingo player said she bought her ticket at Baker’s Tavern on Old Eastern Avenue—the last day tickets were available—and discovered days later that she held one of the game’s top prizes.
The winner told Lottery officials she was scrolling through social media the night after the Jan. 2 drawing when she saw that one of the $100,000 winning tickets had been sold at the same tavern where she bought hers. Realizing she might be the lucky player, she dashed out to her car to check. “I ran to my car to check the ticket! I was in major shock!” she said.
She claimed her prize Jan. 12 at Maryland Lottery headquarters in Baltimore, still in disbelief over her good fortune. “It hasn’t really hit me yet,” she said, adding that she and her husband plan to save and invest the winnings for retirement—with a celebratory dinner planned first.
The Holiday Raffle ran from Nov. 3 through Jan. 1, featuring one $1 million grand prize, ten $100,000 prizes, and thousands of smaller winnings drawn Jan. 2 from among 237,206 tickets sold statewide.
A Middle River woman’s last-minute Holiday Raffle purchase at Baker’s Tavern won her $100,000 to start the new year.