Sheane Ambos of Great Mills, was at a crossroads in his life the day he decided to fill his gas tank and catch up with friends at Pegg Road Shell in Lexington Park. The restaurant cook left with a $50,000 cash infusion that will help him take the steps to advance his career, courtesy of the Maryland Lottery’s 50x the Cash scratch-off.
“I’ve bought Lottery tickets for years,” the 33-year-old told Lottery officials, “but I changed jobs recently and slowed down a bit. I just really felt like scratching a ticket that day.”
“It’s a relaxing, fun place to play,” he said. “They treat Lottery players really well.” Having played a $5 scratch-off that gave him a prize, Sheane picked out the $10 50x the Cash game.
“I played one and then another, and neither won me anything,” he said. “Then, I noticed that they were the first tickets from a new book. I figured that of the first three tickets, at least one would be a winner. So, I got one more.”
Sheane reports being speechless when he saw what that third 50x the Cash game held in store for him.
“I really couldn’t believe it,” he said. “I mean, I have won plenty of times, up in the hundreds sometimes, but nothing like this. Everyone was congratulating me. I even called my parents, they were ecstatic.”
Viewing his $50,000 win as a “ticket” to a fresh start, Sheane tells us that he will take care of his bills and focus on attending culinary school, which might launch the next chapter of his life. “I’ve been saving for a while now, putting aside more than usual to use when the time was right,” he said. “The right time just got a lot closer to happening.”
The 50x the Cash game has delivered five of its eight $100,000 top prizes and four of its 10 $50,000 second-tier prizes since its Jan. 22 debut. Other members of the Multiplier Family of Games are the 5x the Cash game, 10x the Cash and 20x the Cash games.
Players can enter non-winning Multiplier tickets into a second-chance contest on My Lottery Rewards, where the cash prizes include $5,000, $10,000, $20,000 and $50,000. The final drawing takes place May 1.
