Lottery player thinks ticket isn’t a winner — but he hadn’t finished scratching
A Maryland man tries his luck buying a lottery ticket twice per year.
Recently, he took his biannual chance on a $5 lottery ticket and found a win he initially overlooked, Maryland Lottery officials said in an Aug. 25 news release.
On his way home, he stopped by an Aberdeen liquor store, where a lottery kiosk caught his eye, leading him to buy a Cash Scratch Fever ticket, lottery officials said.
Before he made it home, he started scratching the ticket — but just scratched the bonus portion and found the words “please try again.”
The man thought his ticket wasn’t a winner, lottery officials said.
However, when he got home, the player took a closer look at his ticket and scratched the play area, revealing a $5,000 prize.
That prize amount, though, appeared nine times on his ticket, lottery officials said.
Even still, the player “thought he won only a $5,000 prize,” lottery officials said.
It wasn’t until he used the lottery app on his phone to scan the ticket that the man realized his prize was much greater.
His five prize amounts added up to $45,000, lottery officials said, adding the man also won an additional $5,000 for having “a flame symbol next to a $1,000 amount.”
“I thought I was asleep and wondered when I would wake up,” the winner told lottery officials.
The player said he plans to use his winnings on home improvements, while also putting some of the prize money toward his daughter’s college fund and savings.
Aberdeen is about a 25-mile drive northeast from Baltimore.
This story was originally published August 26, 2025 at 1:43 PM with the headline "Lottery player thinks ticket isn’t a winner — but he hadn’t finished scratching."
