Recent So. Md. Lottery Winners

[Editor]

The need to quench his thirst with a refreshing Gatorade put a Charles County construction worker in the right place at the right time to power up with a welcome $100,000 scratch-off win.

The lucky man, who rarely buys scratch-offs but enjoys playing the ones he receives as gifts, picked the $10 Power 8s game as an impulse buy. “I have to read the directions, that’s how little I play,” he said.

The novice paid for his beverage and the game and began scratching the instant ticket off in the store. Puzzled by the results, the 49-year-old saw that he needed to scratch off the prize beside an “8” to see what he won. He couldn’t believe his eyes.

“I had to check it,” the winner said, and the ticket checker confirmed his $100,000 top-prize win. “I said, ‘I gotta go!’ ” He put the lucky ticket in his pocket and out the door he went.

The father of two plans to save the money for future expenses, such as his children’s college educations. He’s keeping news of his Lottery luck top secret so no one will have a clue how one scratch-off has changed his family’s fortunes.

His Lottery retailer in Brandywine can celebrate the anonymous player’s good luck, however. Three Road Liquors at 13704 Brandywine Road in Prince George’s County will receive a $1,000 bonus from the Lottery for selling a top-prize winning scratch-off of $100,000.

This is the second top-prize Power 8s scratch-off claimed in the past week! The game is still packed with prizes, including five more $100,000 top prizes, 15 $10,000 prizes and thousands of others ranging from $10 to $1,000.

 

[Editor]

Prince George’s County resident wins $50,000 in April 23 drawing

A loyal Bonus Match 5 player from Clinton has fulfilled his dream of winning the $50,000 top prize on his favorite Maryland Lottery games.

Nicknaming his win “Long Overdue,” the Prince George’s County resident happily entered the Lottery Winner’s Circle after claiming his prize from the April 23 drawing. “Long Overdue” is a dedicated fan of many Lottery games, including Pick 3 and Pick 4, Keno and Racetrax, but said he always finds his way back to Bonus Match 5.

His lucky purchase took place on the afternoon of the drawing before the 40-year-old went to work. “Long Overdue” stopped at Shoppers #2342 in Clinton and decided to abandon his practice of selecting numbers significant to his life. Something told him to let the terminal pick his numbers, the winner said. “Long Overdue” typically checks results of evening drawings on his phone but decided to wait and scan the $2 Bonus Match 5 ticket the next day when he bought tickets for the midday Pick 3 and Pick 4 drawings.

When “Long Overdue” scanned the Bonus Match 5 ticket, he enjoyed a welcome surprise. A “See Retailer” message popped up, making him think he won more than $600! He worried that the ticket checker was faulty. “Long Overdue” went to a different Lottery retailer and scanned the ticket again. He saw the same message along with the news that he won the game’s top prize of $50,000!

The happy player plans to save the prize for future endeavors and more Lottery game purchases! Shoppers #2342 also wins. For selling a top-prize winning ticket in the game, the Prince George’s County store at 6300 Coventry Way earns a $500 bonus from the Lottery.

 

[Editor]

Avid golfer Steven Wolfe of Leonardtown plans to spend his $50,000 Powerball prize on a new set of golf clubs and a Myrtle Beach vacation.

St. Mary’s County player looks forward to new golf clubs, vacation

A retired Eastern Shore educator who traded his days in the classroom for hours on the golf course plans to please his wife and improve his game with his $50,000 Powerball prize.

Steven Wolfe of Leonardtown is the 28th Maryland Powerball player to win a third-tier prize in the popular game. After buying his quick-pick Powerball ticket for the April 17 drawing, the married father of two left the USA Fuel gas station at 20815 Callaway Village Way in Callaway and headed home. Steven didn’t even watch the drawing. Once he found out that he held a $50,000 winning ticket, the 64-year-old St. Mary’s County resident was so shocked that he had to check the ticket multiple times.

“Are you kidding me?” Steven recalls thinking. “This is great! I have to tell my wife.”

After sharing news of his good fortune with her, the lucky winner called his two daughters to tell them he hit it big playing Powerball. They reacted, at first, with disbelief. One of his daughters, he said, started screaming in excitement. After they calmed down, Steven told them the size of his prize.

“They screamed a lot. It was fun telling them about the win,” Steven said, laughing. “I only play for entertainment purposes. It’s exciting to walk in a store, get a $10 quick pick, and see if you won. I get a kick out of it.”

The retired Great Mills High School teacher has won small amounts playing the Maryland Lottery’s Pick 3 game, too. The $50,000 prize is his biggest win to date. The 30-year occasional Lottery player plans to spend his winnings on a vacation to Myrtle Beach with his wife. While there, he also plans to devote some of his prize to the purchase of a new set of golf clubs.

Steven was one of two Marylanders to win a $50,000 prize in the April 17 drawing and one of 19 $50,000 winners nationwide. The second winning ticket, which is unclaimed, was sold by The Gateway Tavern at 3520 Annapolis Road in Halethorpe (Baltimore). The jackpot has rolled to $150 million for the April 24 drawing with a cash option of $93 million.

 

[Editor]

Charles County's Gene Shontere, Jr. collects his $50,000 Powerball prize.

Lottery newcomer claims $50,000 Powerball prize

Lawrence "Gene" Shontere, Jr. is a very lucky Maryland Lottery player. The Indian Head resident, who just claimed a $50,000 Powerball prize, won big with the second Lottery ticket he's ever bought.

A $10 quick-pick ticket for the March 13 drawing delivered the game's third-tier prize. A member of Hawthorne Country Club in La Plata, Gene was enjoying a drink at the clubhouse last month when the bartender asked if he wanted to buy a Powerball ticket. The employee noted that the game's jackpot for the next drawing was over $500 million.

"When she asked me about playing, it reminded me that I'd bought a ticket from her a few days earlier," Gene said. "I dug it out of my wallet and asked her if I'd won anything." That ticket would soon produce confusion, disbelief and, ultimately, a subdued celebration.

"She came back with a puzzled look on her face," said the Charles County man. "She told me that she didn't know what to do, that she'd never seen anything like this before." It turns out that the bartender's Lottery experience had never involved a winner of his magnitude. "She told me that the machine was saying that I'd won $50,000," Gene said. "She even printed it out to prove it to me. We were both stunned."

The 60-year-old winner, who restores furniture for a living, has taken his Powerball win in stride. "I've been pretty lucky in life, so a Lottery win seemed like it'd be unlikely." In fact, he was so cool after hearing the news that his lucky bartender chided him for not being more excited. "I knew what she meant, but I'm a low-key kind of guy and, to be honest, I didn't really believe it was true," Gene said, adding, "not until I got here today."

Gene was the only Marylander and one of 38 Powerball players in the March 13 drawing to win $50,000 prizes. His lucky Lottery retailer, Hawthorne Country Club, is located at 8760 Hawthorne Road in La Plata. The happy winner plans to buy a boat and the Powerball cash will go toward his purchase.

The jackpot is back on a roll after being hit in Wisconsin on March 27. There's still time to buy tickets for the Saturday, April 20 drawing, and try to win the $136 million jackpot.

 

[Editor]

Superfecta bet with Bonus option leads to a big payday

The luck of the draw combined with a Bonus play on the Maryland Lottery’s horse race simulation game Racetrax delivered a $13,721.60 win for a 79-year-old Upper Marlboro man on April 12.

“I’m an occasional player, not a regular,” the lucky winner said. In addition to buying a Racetrax ticket from time to time when he is out running errands or getting a cup of coffee, he also has been known to pick up a Mega Millions or Powerball ticket. What he had not been known to do before April 12 was win a large sum of money. He has hit before “for small stuff,” though.

For his lucky April 12 play, he selected the numbers 2, 3, 11, and 12 on a Superfecta Box bet with the Bonus option. He wagered 10 cents for each of the 24 possible combinations, with the Bonus option doubling the cost of his ticket to $4.80. One of those combinations returned the handsome sum when the 12, 3, 11 and 2 horses were the first four to cross the finish line. The base prize for a 10-cent bet on a 12-3-11-2 Superfecta is $3,430.40, which was quadrupled to $13,721.60 by the 4X Bonus for the race.

The lucky winner had no celebration plans but was all smiles when he collected his prize April 16 at Maryland Lottery headquarters in Baltimore.

Also having a reason to smile are the proprietors of Marlton Liquors at 9518 Crain Highway in Upper Marlboro. The Prince George’s County retailer will receive a bonus of $137 for selling a winning Racetrax ticket with a prize of $10,000 or more.