A six-figure Maryland Lottery win finally arrived for a loyal Prince George’s County player, who remembers winning $1,125 with a game when the Lottery began in 1973. The Clinton resident has won small amounts since then but nothing like the $200,016 prize he is taking home from a winning Powerball quick-pick ticket.
The 52-year-old found Lottery luck waiting at his regular spot, Country Place Liquor located at 3140 Marshall Hall Road in Bryans Road. The winner purchased a $15 ticket, adding the Power Play multiplier option, for the Oct. 26 drawing. On the day after the drawing, he returned to the retailer to scan all of the Lottery tickets that he had. Most were non-winners, but he recalls scanning one ticket that showed a bunch of zeroes and the word “congrats.”
“My hand started shaking,” the player said. At that point, the shocked man realized that he won a really big prize. He stepped back and turned around to see if anyone was looking at him. Seeing no one was, the winner found a pen, signed the back of the ticket and left the store.
His wife of 23 years remained calm once she found out about his Lottery luck, opting to give him a quick celebratory high five. The father of two said his oldest daughter asked if he was for real and the younger thought they were rich.
The winner, a state employee of 30 years, is also a singer and enjoys performing with his R&B/funk group. When asked of his plans for his prize, the happy player said he plans to take a family trip to Las Vegas, pay off bills and save the rest.
A 4X Power Play multiplier gave this player his big $200,016 third-tier win, with a smaller prize coming from a win on another line of his ticket. He was the only third-tier winner in Maryland in that drawing. There’s still time to try to match his big win by buying a ticket for the Saturday, Jan. 25 drawing, which features a jackpot of $373 million. The cash option is $253.7 million. No one has hit the jackpot since November, when a California player won with a lucky ticket.
