Small business owner claims top-prize win on Gold Rush X50 instant ticket
Playing Maryland Lottery games is usually a weekend pursuit for a Charles County home improvement specialist who visited Lottery headquarters Friday. Wouldn’t you know it, he just claimed his biggest win ever from a $100,000 winning Gold Rush X50 scratch-off bought on a Thursday.
The winner makes exceptions to his weekend Lottery-playing routine during jackpot runs. “If Mega Millions or Powerball are particularly big during the week, I’ll work a Lottery store visit into my schedule,” said the Bryans Road man. Luckily, both games featured significant jackpots for the weekend drawings. Mega Millions had climbed to $444 million and Powerball had reached $344.6 million. The Mega Millions jackpot presented one other lure: “four is my lucky number, so I couldn’t ignore the $444 million.”
The 60-year-old visited Country Place Liquor in Bryans Road for his rare midweek Lottery purchase. While there, he decided to pick up an instant ticket that has treated him well these last few weekends. “I’ve been pretty lucky with Gold Rush X50 so I got one to scratch after work. I liked the game,” said the winner. “Now, I love it.”
When he played his Gold Rush game Thursday evening and found that $100,000 top-prize match, his first thought was he would have a heart attack before he could claim his prize. “My heart was racing!” he said. “I couldn’t believe my eyes. I had to sit down for a bit.”
The small business owner plans to put his prize toward a luxury vacation. Also a winner is the retailer, Country Place Liquors located at 3140 Marshall Hall Road. The Charles County retailer earns a $1,000 bonus from the Lottery for selling a top-prize winning scratch-off.
