A Maryland man who unknowingly struck gold with a scratch-off also hit the jackpot with his choice of friends, as the lotto player's pal alerted him to the big win after he had discarded the ticket.
The 67-year-old Baltimore County man routinely travels up and down Belair Road to purchase instant tickets for games that still have unclaimed top prizes, he told the Maryland lottery.
Most recently he bought a "Gold" scratch-off ticket at Nikki's Discount Liquors in Baltimore, but thought he hadn't won anything, he said.
The heavy equipment mechanic handed off what he thought was a dud to his co-worker and friend, who routinely enters non-winning tickets into My Lottery Rewards to try his luck in second-hand drawings.
But when he tried entering in the "Gold" ticket, he realized the $5 game carried a $50,000 top prize.
"He told me he had to verify the ticket twice to make sure it was real," the lucky winner said. "The next day when he gave me the ticket, he said 'You're lucky I like you!'"
The father of two grown children and grandfather of two told Lottery officials how grateful he is for his friend's honesty. "I gave him the biggest hug and almost cried," said the fortunate player. "I really don't know how I missed that it was a winner."
The happy man plans to use the prize to pay off his truck loan and make home improvements.
Also winning is Nikki's Discount Liquors, which sold the Gold scratch-off. The store located at 7542 Belair Road earns a $500 bonus from the Lottery for selling the top-prize winning ticket in the game.
The Gold scratch-off still has three remaining top prizes of $50,000 awaiting discovery, along with thousands of others ranging from $5 to $5,000.
Personally, I enjoy reading these good luck stories. Being from Maryland he could keep his identity a secret. His choice of friends paid off big time.
After you check your scratch off's it's best to take a second look and double check them before discarding!
Precisely- it’s the reason some folk out there go dumpster & scratcher diving. Some have found “treasure” in that garbage. Instead of keeping this win to himself, knowing he is not the rightful owner, he showed his true colors. Given that money can create “enemies “- this guy showed he is a TRUE friend.
It's always worth double checking your tickets. In Florida, thousands of winning tickets are thrown away each year by careless players.
Congratulations skeptic!! Good work rechecking the ticket.
Like I've said before I found a $200 ticket in the trash, took it to another store to cash it in. This wise azz guy said it was his, set him straight as to where it came from.
Doesn't every lottery retailer have a scanner? Before you buy more, take your old ones in and check them.
Now that is an honest friend!! It would be cool if the winner blessed his friend by rewarding him for his honesty. Blessings to them both!!
Oh wow!! I see a lot of tickets on the ground just laying around various gas stations here in NC & (now) instead of just throwing them away, maybe I'll start checking them before I throw them away!!
Congrats on the win and having an honest friend.
I would have given him a big hug and at least $500. After all, the friend could have kept it all!
there is no mention of him giving him anything except gratitude, which could easily escalate this relationship into a former one. the finder deserves a minimum of 1500.00 for this and probably has a similar figure in his own mind. how quickly he was to say i'm going to pay off my truck and fix my house. that could chew up thousands and thousands which indicates to me that he is using it all and no reward is forthcoming to the finder. i do not care how friendly and close they were in the past but this has some potential bitterness on the horizon.
Vaguely runs along the lines of this guy in Florida playing a slot machine. He asked his friend to hit the button, she hit the jackpot for $10K and wouldn't give a dime. I asked about this @ the casinos here and they said yes, whomever hits the button is the winner regardless if the other person's players card is in the machine. To think I USED TO DO THIS asking strangers to hit the button for me. Needless to say that practice stopped immediately.
Did you say "his friend"? LOL