Lottery player used winnings to buy new ticket — then ‘almost fell over’ seeing prize

A 47-year-old lottery player won big after using a ticket’s winnings to buy a new ticket, Maryland officials said.

The construction worker from the Eastern Shore was heading to work when he stopped to cash in a $50 winning scratch-off, according to an Oct. 26 news release by the Maryland Lottery.

The man stopped at a Safeway in Pasadena and used the $50 winnings to buy two $20 scratch-offs and a $10 one, officials said.

Leaving the tickets for later, the man had no clue that one of them would score him $1 million until he scratched them while he stopped to get gas, lottery officials said.

“The first game was a $55 winner, and I was pretty happy about that,” the Denton resident told officials. “No win on the second, but that third ticket almost gave me a heart attack.”

The man “almost fell over,” then called his girlfriend to tell her the good news, the release said.

“I was stuttering that I hit and she thought I was saying that I was in a car accident,” he told officials. “She said, ‘hit what, what did you hit.’”

After getting home, he showed her the ticket and put it in a safe until the prize was claimed on Oct. 26, officials said.

The lucky winner plans to buy new cars for him and his girlfriend before saving the rest of the money, officials said.

Pasadena is about 20 miles south of Baltimore.

This story was originally published October 27, 2023 at 12:38 PM with the headline "Lottery player used winnings to buy new ticket — then ‘almost fell over’ seeing prize."