When a local Charles County resident stopped at Lady’s Liquors a couple of weeks ago to purchase a few of his favorite scratch-offs, he never imagined how his life was about to change. He took the instant tickets to his car and scratched them off before leaving. When he realized he matched a number on his $2,000,000 Fortune ticket, he slowly revealed the prize amount.
“I thought it would be $30, maybe $50,” said the self-employed man, who was accompanied by some family members to Lottery headquarters in Baltimore. “When I saw all those zeroes on the $2 million prize, I had to put on my glasses to make sure I wasn’t seeing things.”
During his ride home, the 55-year-old started to get nervous about the ticket.
“I kept moving it around,” he told Lottery officials, with a smile. “I was trying to find the best spot for it in case I had a car accident.”
The gracious winner, who plans to save his winnings for retirement, chose the annuity. He will receive a check for a $66,000, after taxes, for the next 20 years.
Lady’s Liquors, located at 6474 Crain Highway in La Plata, is no stranger to big wins. In 2014, the lucky store sold one of two winning Mega Millions tickets for a $414 million jackpot. For selling this $2 million top prize, the store will receive a $2,000 bonus from the Lottery.
The $2,000,000 Fortune game is Maryland’s first $30 scratch-off. The game launched on Feb. 27 and has four additional $2 million top prizes remaining. In addition to the top prizes, there are 15 prizes of $50,000 still unclaimed along with thousands of others ranging from $30 to $500.