Occasional player baffles husband, who is the more frequent player in the relationship

By Kate Northrop

SALISBURY, Md. — An occasional Maryland lottery player scratched off two losing tickets before deciding to put down some cash for a third, which paid off to the tune of $150,000.

Third time's the charm for one casual Maryland lottery player, who baffled her lottery-loving husband with the $150,000 win.

The grocery store employee, who was identified as "Yeyo" in a press release to hide her identity, was on a break from work. It was a slow day, so she decided to play some scratch-off games. She picked out one, then two, but there were no prizes to be found. That's when she decided to try a third time and picked out a $10 "$150,000 Extreme" ticket.

Upon scanning the ticket, she instantly realized that luck was on her side after all.

"I thought it was $50, but it read a $150,000 win," "Yeyo" told the Maryland Lottery. "I thought, 'This can't be real.'"

She brought the ticket to her coworker and asked them to make sure what she was seeing was real. Surely enough, it was a $150,000 top prize from the game. The very next thing she did was call her husband, who was bewildered to hear that, considering he plays the lottery more often, she was the one to scoop such a big win.

"It was so hard to believe that she won because I am the one who plays," "Yeyo's" husband said to Lottery officials when he accompanied her to claim the prize last week. "I had to see it for myself, so I immediately drove to her work."

When he arrived on the scene, he was greeted with a big hug. He took the ticket from her to put it in a safe place at home.

The mother of two said she has not yet decided what to do with her winnings but will put the money into savings for now.

The retailer that sold the ticket, Union Latina on Beaglin Park Drive in Salisbury, will receive a $1,000 bonus from the Lottery for doing so.

"Yeyo" claimed the very first available top prize of $150,000 out of the five originally available at the game's launch in March. There are also 14 out of 24 second-tier prizes of $10,000 and 25 out of 36 third-tier prizes of $1,000 remaining.

The odds of winning any prize in the $10 "$150,000 Extreme" instant game are 1 in 3.5.

(Click to display full-size in gallery)Maryland Lottery winner "Yeyo" maintained her anonymity by hiding behind the ceremonial check.