Whenever his children or wife ask what he’d like for a gift on his birthday or during the holiday, a Baltimore man muses that his response has always been the same: “scratch-offs,” according to Lottery officials.

That paid off in a big way recently, when the man was at the Winner’s Circle at Lottery Headquarters in Baltimore to claim a $100,000 prize that he won playing “In The Money” on a ticket sold at Royal Farms in Baltimore.

The retired manufacturing worker – who chose not to disclose a name following his big win – is feeling lucky after a lifetime of playing lottery games led to his biggest victory to date, which came about due to a bit of good fortune.

While at Royal Farms, the Lottery winner says that there are two self-serve vending machines that distribute tickets. When the one he typically frequents was being used by a different customer, he went to the second machine on a whim, rather than waiting, leading to his big win.

“When the new tickets come out, I usually play them,” he said. But the second machine had older games and none of his favorite new games, so he said he “was frustrated” and randomly selected a pair of $10 “In The Money” tickets that went on sale in February.

Lottery officials say that the man took the tickets home on Sunday morning while his family was at church and sat down to scratch them while enjoying a jelly doughnut for breakfast.

The result of the first scratcher was $100,000 more satisfying than the morning treat.

He said that he immediately called his brother to share the good news and confirm the win, though he was unable to get ahold of his wife or daughter who were at church with their phones turned off.

When they got out, they were greeted by a picture of the retiree holding the “golden ticket” that were sent out to family members.


“Church services were over when the daughter urged her mom to check her text messages,” according to Lottery officials. ‘“I got scared, I thought something was wrong,’ the wife said. Then, she saw the photo of her husband with the winning ticket.”

The lucky winner said that he was dumbfounded, while saying that the two retirees now have “a nice cushion” after the Lottery victory. Some of the money is also going to be used to spoil their children and grandchildren.

Royal Farms will also receive a $1,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket. ‘In The Money” still has four more $100,000 prizes remaining unclaimed, along with five $20,000 prizes, 13 $10,000 prizes, and thousands of additional prizes ranging from $10 to $1,000.

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