Hagerstown lottery devotee wins scratch-off game's top prize
A devoted lottery player from Hagerstown has won $50,000 from one of his daily scratch-off ticket purchases, according to the Maryland Lottery.
"Jim," as the lottery referred to the winner in a news release, is a 78-year-old retired state employee with three grandchildren and many great-grandchildren, according to the lottery. Jim was the nickname the winner chose to be identified by for a news release, according to the Maryland Lottery.
Jim won the prize through a new scratch-off game called Extreme Green. The $5 game debuted on July 18 and had seven top $50,000 prizes left as of Wednesday, according to the lottery website.
The local lottery winner buys about $10 or $15 worth of scratch-off tickets every morning at his local Sheetz store, off East Washington Street, along with a cup of coffee and the day's newspaper, according to the lottery release.
"It gives me something to do," Jim told the lottery. "It kills time."
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How did he win?
The Extreme Green ticket was the only $5 scratch-off game the Sheetz had left in its self-serve lottery vending machine the day Jim bought the ticket — when he was searching for a different game after buying some other tickets, according to the lottery.
When Jim discovered he'd won, he went back into the Sheetz and scanned the ticket to confirm the win, according to the lottery release. Then he went to another lottery retailer he often visits to check the ticket again just to be sure.
Jim plans to spend his winnings, noting that he and his wife will probably use some of the money to pay off bills, according to the release.
The Sheetz store will get a $500 bonus for selling a top-prize winning scratch-off ticket.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Hagerstown man wins Maryland Lottery scratch-off game's top prize
