It didn't sink in until she read about her win

By Kate Northrop

GLENN DALE, Md. — A Maryland woman was ecstatic about her $1.8 million Multi-Match prize after reading about the win in an article online.

A nurse fully realized she had won $1.8 million Multi-Match win after seeing an article about the jackpot online.

The Bowie resident credited her mother for the win — she had talked her daughter into buying a "random" ticket for a random game while at the Chesapeake Market gas station on Annapolis Road in Glenn Dale.

That single, random ticket ended up winning the nurse a $1.8 million Multi-Match jackpot, which had a jackpot roll of nearly three months prior to the win.

However, the novice lottery player had no idea her mother, who plays regularly, had taken the ticket home.

Following the Oct. 28 drawing, her mother scanned the ticket to see if her daughter had won anything. A "Go to Lottery" message popped up on the screen, so she pulled up the winning numbers on her phone and was stunned to see a match.

"I looked at it and said, 'No way,'" she told the Maryland Lottery.

Then, she informed her daughter, who was just as shocked.

"I didn't think it was real," the lucky winner remarked. "I wasn't sure it was real until the next day."

After receiving the incredible news, she took to the Internet and began looking for more information. She found an article confirming that a winning Multi-Match ticket was sold at the same retailer where she bought her ticket. She hadn't even realized that the jackpot was over $1 million when she purchased it.

The winner had the option of claiming the jackpot as an annuity paid in 25 equal installments or the cash option. She chose to receive it as a $1.075 million lump sum before taxes.

For selling the winning ticket, the retailer receives a $1,800 bonus from the Lottery.