Friend gives man a lottery ticket for Christmas stocking stuffer — and he wins big
A man was given a winning lottery ticket for his Christmas stocking stuffer in Maryland.
The gift scored Grant Johnson $30,000.
Johnson’s best friend gave him a Peppermint Payout Multiplier ticket on Christmas Eve, the Maryland Lottery said in a Dec. 27 news release.
“We’ve been buying each other scratch-off tickets as Christmas gifts for years. We always get a winner or two, but nothing like this,” Johnson told lottery officials.
When Johnson scratched the ticket and realized he won the top prize, he was “skeptical,” lottery officials said.
“I figured that I’d done something wrong. There was no way I could believe that I was holding $30,000 in my hands,” he told lottery officials.
His friend double-checked the ticket and confirmed he was a winner. Then they used the lottery app to be sure.
“We started yelling and didn’t stop for quite a while,” Johnson said.
Now the lucky lottery player has plans to pay off his debt.
This story was originally published December 27, 2023 at 1:52 PM with the headline "Friend gives man a lottery ticket for Christmas stocking stuffer — and he wins big."
