Maryland resident "never dreamed" he'd win the lottery
By Kate Northrop
SILVER SPRING, Md. — A Maryland man was over-the-moon to find out he won $1 million in the lottery, a "perfectly timed blessing" for him and his family's future.
An Ethiopia native, who describes himself as a proud American citizen to the Maryland Lottery, was ecstatic to win a $1 million prize since learning how to play in 2017.
The Silver Spring resident chose to remain anonymous when collecting his prize and told Lottery officials that he first started playing the lottery when he heard about the games from his friends and family. The idea of potentially winning money by playing the lottery was a completely foreign idea to him before he moved to the United States.
"It was all new to me," he explained to Lottery staff. "But thankfully I took the time to learn."
Fast forward to 2025, and that persistence has finally paid off. While at Hillandale Beer & Wine on New Hampshire Avenue in Silver Spring, he decided to purchase a $20 "Gold Rush 777" scratch-off ticket at the self-service vending machine.
The Maryland man scratched it off and scanned it, but what he saw left him stunned and distracted for the rest of the day. Focusing at the office was nearly impossible, but he impatiently got through the workday and made it home to share the news with his wife.
"We just looked at each other and smiled," he recalled. "It was a perfectly timed blessing."
The pair had recently bought a new home, and as they work together to make it their own, the winnings give them an extra boost toward building their future with each other. They'll be able to make minor updates to the property, while the remainder of the prize money will act as an extra security blanket.
"I never dreamed I'd win the lottery," the winner said in a press release. "These things don't happen to me. But I'm so thankful."
The lucky player visited Lottery headquarters in Baltimore accompanied by his brother to claim the prize. For selling the winning ticket, the retailer will receive a $1,000 bonus commission from the Lottery.
There is one more top prize of $1 million out of the four originally available at the game's launch in May 2025. There are also two out of six second-tier prizes of $50,000 and 42 out of 91 third-tier prizes of $10,000 remaining in the $20 "Gold Rush 777" scratch-off game.
The final date to claim prizes for this instant game is Dec. 29, 2025. The overall odds of winning any prize are 1 in 3.04.
Way to go! Congratulations....🎉
Not sure why his place of birth needed to be mentioned.
also,
"The idea of potentially winning money by playing the lottery was a completely foreign idea to him before he moved to the United States."
I'm pretty sure they have lotteries over there too. 🤣 They're just playing into the ignorance of some folks in this country. Anyhow, congrats to him.
The winner clearly approved the personal information released since Maryland is a fully anonymous state.
You know what, you're absolutely correct. I did not take that into consideration when I opened my mouth. Thank you for correcting me.
Thanks. It still does not explain him giving out any personal info. It may allow others who fit that category to claim falsely to others that they were the winner or direct attention to him if he stops in that store again. No need to give out any identifying info.
This is the classic textbook way to take down a bully who is gullible, and doesn't have good common sense. BRAVO!!!
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Guess what?. You fell for it. thaencyder is right.
Seems quite unaware that I created the pinned topic on anonymity rules. Wish she would develop some basic reasoning skills. She sounds like an old school marm who did not save for retirement. Hopefully she will find something better to do with the weekend.
MARYLAND Anonymous. Can a winner remain anonymous. "Yes, you can. When we meet with winners who claim prizes at our Baltimore office, we encourage them to embrace the moment and celebrate by posing for a photo that we can publish. However, anyone who wins a prize on a Maryland Lottery draw game ticket or scratch-off ticket has the right to remain anonymous. We do not release any such winner's name or photo unless the winner has specifically given us written consent to do so.
Please note that this anonymity protection does not apply to second-chance and Points for Drawings contests run through the My Lottery Rewards program. Those contests are run as promotions for the Lottery. As such, they are operated under a different set of rules than our draw games and scratch-off games. The rules of participating in our second-chance and Points for Drawings contests state that winners' identities are published."
Cry me a river. Any kid with a cheap phone can look up that info on any search engines worldwide.
Yet Todd found the well researched analysis important enough to pin to the top of the Jackpot thread. She got very angry when I mentioned Todd's name and quoted something he said previously in another thread. How dare I!!!!