They say lightning never strikes the same place twice – but that didn’t stop a Maryland man from hitting a 2 million dollar lottery scratch-off – for the SECOND TIME!!
Most people would be over the moon if they’d won a $2 million scratch-off lottery prize. Now, imagine doing it twice!
A 65-year-old man in Maryland has done just that, hitting the state’s $2,000,000 Richer game for the top prize again. The first win came several years ago when the Richer game began.
The man recently bought two tickets at a local Exxon station and realized that one of the tickets had a gold bar symbol over the $2 million symbol that he recognized from his first win, signifying that he’d won.
The man drove home and stashed the ticket in a safe. He waited to claim the prize money until days before the deadline because of the pandemic, according to the Maryland Lottery. He was nervous the entire time he was waiting.
“I worried that I could have a fire (at home) that would burn it up, that the ticket’s expiration date might come up and even had just a bit of doubt that it was really real,” he told the Maryland Lottery.
Employees at the Exxon station will get a bonus for selling the winning ticket as well.
The first time he won, he also had trouble believing it was real. “I kept thinking this has to be one of those prank cards,” he said in 2018.
When he bought his first winning ticket at an Eagle Express Mart, he didn’t tell his wife until the next day because he was still in disbelief.
A retired utility worker, the man’s name is being withheld at his request, but he did tell the state that he intends to use the money to pay for family vacations.
At the time of this story’s writing, the page on the Maryland Lottery website for the game had been removed since the game officially ends Nov. 1, but an intro page did state there were no more $2 million prizes available to win.
We can’t all be lottery winners, but the seasoned winner had advice for those hoping to be just as lucky.
“Be realistic and make sure that when you play that you aren’t just playing for the big jackpot,” he said. “Play for enjoyment, and as long as you enjoy what you are doing, win or lose, you’ve already won.”