A woman in Baltimore County, Maryland won a million dollars in lottery prize money after initially believing she had only won a small amount. According to an April 17th post on the website of the Maryland Lottery, the unnamed woman who has three children and one grandchild was making some purchases at a convenience store when she purchased thirty dollars worth of scratch-off lottery tickets.
The woman was first pleased by what she thought was a small prize.
“I noticed some numbers matched,” she said, and while the prize amounts were low, she said, “I still got excited.” Then, another customer showed her how the game’s multiplier column boosted those smaller prizes. When they realized the scratch-off carried a $1 million prize, they couldn’t contain their delight.
By the time the winner and her mom visited the Lottery’s office to claim the prize, they had made their plans. They want to buy a home for the family to share, take a trip, and put the rest in the bank for future fun.
The post says the woman had been playing for years despite winning little or nothing. It turned out well so far for her, but others have had less happy outcomes. A 2008 article from the Cleveland Plain Dealer profiled a 53-year-old Ohio forklift operator making 75 thousand a year losing his house to foreclosure after refinancing into an adjustable-rate mortgage a few years earlier.
His initially affordable payments had increased to 1300 dollars a month. Despite facing the loss of his home he did not want to stop spending 40 dollars a day on lottery tickets even though it would save him from foreclosure.
He doesn't drink, smoke or golf. But he is addicted to the Ohio Lottery.
He spends $40 daily on the lottery. It's eating him alive. Williams asks him if he's aware that he spends nearly $15,000 a year on the lottery.
Collins says no, but defends the expenditure.
The odds of winning the lottery are extremely low and useless if the winner doesn't have the financial knowledge to protect themself and their winnings.
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