A Prince George’s County sports coach has lots of wins to his record – both on the field and with Maryland Lottery scratch-offs. However, nothing prepared the Suitland resident for the biggest win of his life earlier this month – a $50,000 top prize on a Green Doubler instant ticket.
The 59-year-old bought two of the $5 Green Doubler scratch-offs at Meyers Liquors in Suitland and took them home to play. “I waited until I got situated at home,” he said. “I sat down at the dining room table and started to scratch.”
His friend, who accompanied him to Lottery headquarters to claim his prize, witnessed the exciting reveal. The first scratch-off yielded a $10 prize. His friend remembers saying to him, “You sure could use $50,000” as he started scratching off the numbers on the game to see if they matched any of the winning numbers. The number 5 matched! “It was on the third row,” he said. “I came back and scratched the prize underneath and I was like, ‘Whoa.’ ”
No longer were either of them calm, cool and collected!
“We jumped, we clapped, we hollered!” the winner’s friend said with a smile. “We buy scratch tickets all the time and win $30, $50, $200, $300 … but $50,000!”
The winner agreed. “You always entertain the thought as you scratch that you could win a top prize,” he said. Yet, his $50,000 win was very unexpected and very welcome. “I sure can use $50,000!”
He plans to devote his prize to home improvements and a vacation.
For selling a top prize scratch-off in the Green Doubler game, Meyers Liquors located at 3601 Old Silver Hill Road in Suitland will receive a $500 bonus from the Lottery. The $5 game went on sale in May 2016 has one more unclaimed $50,000 top prize, along with two $5,000 prizes and thousands of other prizes ranging from $5 to $1,000