Dad’s prank inspired woman to chase lottery jackpot for a decade. She finally won
More than a decade ago, a Maryland woman’s father played a trick on her, one that would inspire a yearslong chase for a lottery jackpot.
As part of a prank, her father gifted her a fake “winning” lottery ticket and “recorded her jubilant reaction,” Maryland Lottery officials said in a Nov. 1 news release.
It may have been a prank, but “the moment left a lasting impact,” lottery officials said.
“I remember being so excited to win because I knew how rare it was,” the woman told lottery officials.
Since that “brief thrill,” the woman told lottery officials she’s been chasing after a top prize.
Little did she know, more than a decade would pass before she finally got her “long-awaited ‘full circle moment.’”
As she perused lottery tickets on display in the window of a Rosedale tobacco store, one’s design and color caught her eye — the “$” scratch-off game.
She bought a ticket, “along with her regular game purchase,” lottery officials said.
The woman scratched her tickets later that evening, “not expecting much,” according to lottery officials.
But then, she scratched her “$” ticket, which had a matching winning number that left her with the game’s top prize of $50,000 prize, lottery officials said.
“I remember running around the house screaming at the top of my lungs,” the woman told lottery officials.
Using the lottery app on her phone, the woman quickly scanned her ticket and confirmed her top prize.
The woman lottery officials that, “despite her excitement,” she plans on keeping her news to herself until “the family’s next holiday gathering.
While she plans to use her winnings to pay bills and save the rest, she also said she will put some aside for future lottery games, lottery officials said.
“I’m definitely going to test my luck again,” she said.
Rosedale is a northeastern suburb of Baltimore.
This story was originally published November 4, 2024 at 3:53 PM with the headline "Dad’s prank inspired woman to chase lottery jackpot for a decade. She finally won."
