Man finds winning lotto ticket while helping mom clean: ‘Did that really just happen?’
What are the odds you win the lottery?
What are the odds you win the lottery? You're more likely to be struck by lightning.
NOTTINGHAM, Maryland - Christmas came late for a mother and son in the form of a $50,000 Maryland Lottery scratch-off win on a ticket that didn’t make it into being a stocking stuffer.
Christmas scratch-off was a winning ticket
The backstory:
The son told Maryland Lottery that he was moving furniture around at his mother’s house in Nottingham, when they found five scratch-offs. They were part of a larger cache of tickets the mom had purchased as stocking stuffers for her adult children.
What they're saying:
"I said, ‘Hey mom, I’ve got some scratch-offs here. Can I scratch them?,’" he said. They agreed he would scratch the tickets, but if any of them was a winner, they’d split the proceeds.
The son didn’t scratch the tickets at his mom’s house, but later on with his wife.
Two of the tickets were non-winners, one was a winner for $6, one for $15 and the last one, a $5 Holiday Luck Doubler ticket, was the big winner.
According to the family, the holiday-themed ticket didn’t make it into a stocking. (Credit: Maryland Lottery)
The son and his wife were in disbelief after scratching and seeing matching numbers over the game’s $50,000 top prize.
"Did that really just happen?" the wife recounted to Maryland Lottery. At first, they were in disbelief, so the son called his mom and asked if it was a prank ticket.
It turns out, it was not, as was confirmed when the family visited Lottery headquarters.
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With half of the proceeds, the son said he plans to start saving for a house and pay off some debts he owes to his mom.
"So, she’ll actually end up getting more," he continued.
Meanwhile, the mom said she will be sharing with her other grown children.
Winning lottery ticket sold in Nottingham, Maryland
Dig deeper:
The winning ticket was sold at Walther Liquors at 8625 Walther Blvd. in Nottingham. For selling a top-prize winning scratch-off ticket, the Baltimore County retailer will receive a $500 bonus from the Lottery.
The Holiday Luck Doubler game has a last date to claim of Nov. 3.
The Source: The information for this story was provided from a press release by Maryland Lottery. This story was reported from Los Angeles.