College student thinks he won $5K with scratch-off ticket, then mom takes a look
A college student assumed he won $5,000 playing the lottery — until he handed the Lucky 777 scratch-off to his mom.
“He saw the word Autowin in a box with that prize amount” and figured it was his winning total, but she “took a more thorough look at the ticket and told her son he missed more prizes as there were many more winning boxes on the ticket,” Maryland Lottery officials said in a July 15 news release.
In fact, the Towson University student actually won $50,000.
“I was ecstatic when I found out it was that much money,” he told lottery officials.
He’s been a lottery player since age 18, lottery officials said, and he plans to spend some of his big prize and also sock some away.
“He needs to pay for college,” his mom said, per the release.
The student bought the ticket at a convenience store in Olney, lottery officials said.
The game debuted in May with six $1 million top prizes and eight $50,000 second-tier prizes, according to lottery officials.
Four top prizes and three second-tier prizes remain, lottery officials said.
Olney is about a 40-mile drive southwest from Baltimore.
This story was originally published July 16, 2025 at 10:07 AM with the headline "College student thinks he won $5K with scratch-off ticket, then mom takes a look."
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