Name says it all: win was much larger than expected
By Kate Northrop
TOWSON, Md. — A Maryland woman is in a state of "Euphoria" after she almost settled for believing she had won a fraction of a $540,000 Multi-Match lottery jackpot.
An unlikely visit made one Maryland lottery player so ecstatic that she mistakenly believed she won less than the $540,000 Multi-Match jackpot she was entitled to.
The woman, who adopted the appropriate name "Euphoria" to claim her prize anonymously, found herself in Towson, a place she rarely visits. She was there for a last-minute stop at a Shell gas station on York Road.
She wasn't there for gas, however. Instead, she went inside and made a beeline for the lottery vending machine with $6 in her pocket.
"Euphoria" tapped on the option to select a Multi-Match ticket and cycled through a few Quick Pick number combinations until she saw a set of numbers she liked and bought a ticket for the Sept. 17 drawing.
When she checked her ticket the following day, she saw the drawing yielded results 17, 18, 19, 29, 40, and 42 — the same ones on her ticket.
But she was convinced she had only won $100,000, a fraction of the real prize amount. She shared the news with her daughters, and they all screamed with glee.
"Euphoria" then saw the news that a Multi-Match jackpot-winning ticket for more than five times the amount had been sold at the same store she bought her ticket from, so she instantly realized she had won an even bigger prize than she thought.
And while she was claiming her prize at Lottery headquarters in Baltimore on Oct. 2, her husband and three daughters were still under the impression that she had only won $100,000.
The data analyst of more than 20 years told the Maryland Lottery that she is grateful for the good fortune and that she's going to put her winnings towards home improvements, a new car for her daughters, and paying the tuition for her three children currently in college.
When she's not working, she said to Lottery officials, "Euphoria" is usually spending time with family, going on hikes, and doing other outdoor activities.
For selling the winning ticket, the Shell gas station will receive a $1,000 bonus commission from the Lottery.
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Wow congrats. I've always championed random gas stations as the way to go. She had the same idea. Although my thinking was mainly for scratch offs but draw games work too obviously. There have been lots of gas station wins.
I've never seen a vending machine in any gas station in my state but it appears that's standard for Maryland. It actually makes sense though for gas stations to have them because non lottery players are always annoyed when they just want gas or a snack and have to wait for a lotto player in front of them to run a bunch of numbers and bet slips.
I looked up the game and it appears similar to triple jackpot but they have a higher starting jackpot. And it costs a dollar more.
Maryland's vending machines appear to be more advanced than my state. The article said she was able to select which QP numbers she wanted. Very interesting that she actually chose a triple consecutive 17-18-19. Most people would not do that but if you want to win you gotta be bold and brave.
I can't imagine what that feeling was for her to check her tickets the next day and see all the numbers match. Congrats again.
Fraud!!