Baltimore****– “Me and my son watch ‘(My) Lottery Dream Home’ all the time,” said a 44-year-old Washington, D.C. resident. “Now, we can get our very own Lottery dream home.” The key to making her dream come true was a $3 Powerball ticket, which won $2 million in the Feb. 26 drawing.
“Smudge,” which is a nickname she chose for Lottery publicity, said she doesn’t often play Lottery games. However, she watches a television show where a host takes Lottery winners on a search for their dream home and that piqued her interest in the game. On a recent weekend, while her 11-year-old son was involved in activities in Maryland, “Smudge” decided to do a little shopping.
“I was having company later and I wanted to get a bottle of wine,” she said.
“Smudge” stopped at Rodman’s Discount Gourmet in Kensington, Md. for a few grocery items and the bottle of wine. While there, she spotted the store’s Lottery vending equipment and decided to purchase $20 worth of games. “Smudge” bought a $5 and a $10 scratch-off, a $2 Cash4Life* *ticket and a $2 Powerball quick-pick ticket. She added $1 to the Powerball ticket for the *Power Play *multiplier option before leaving to pick up her son and head home.
The office coordinator played the two scratch-offs first, which were not winners. She didn’t check the *Cash4Life *and Powerball tickets until the next day. Cash4Life failed to give her a win, either. However, as she checked her Powerball ticket, the astonished mom realized she was matching the winning numbers one by one.
“My brain just couldn’t process it, you know,” said “Smudge.” “I called my son so he could check the ticket again for me and his eyes got big as he said, ‘Mom, they’re the same!’ ”
The shocked woman then called her husband so he could examine the ticket and confirm the win. He, too, expressed disbelief. “Smudge” had matched four of the white balls and the Powerball number. Because she added the Power Play option to her ticket, the $1 million second-tier prize doubled to $2 million.
“It’s so crazy, I remember telling my son, ‘I want my Lottery dream home,’ ” she said, smiling. She will soon have one. In addition to buying a house, “Smudge” plans to save some of the fortune for her son’s college education.
“Smudge” isn’t the only winner. Rodman’s Discount Gourmet located at 5148 Nicholson Lane in Kensington will receive a $5,000 bonus from the Lottery for selling the $2 million winning ticket with Power Play.
Since its inception in 1973, the Maryland Lottery has awarded more than $29.8 billion in prizes to players and contributed more than $17.9 billion to the State of Maryland. One of Maryland’s largest revenue sources, the Lottery supports important state programs and services including education, public safety and health, human resources and the environment. For more information, go tomdgamblinghelp.org* *or call 1-800-GAMBLER