Free Lotto Ticket Nets $50K Windfall For Brentwood Woman

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD — The Maryland Lottery held a Lottery Week All Games Promotion last month and a Brentwood woman's free ticket ended up winning her $50,000.

The Prince George's County resident purchased a $3 Racetrax ticket at AJ Liquors and received a free Pick 5 ticket. She put it in her bag and didn't glance at it until the next day when she asked a friend to check it for her. He scanned the free ticket using his phone and was surprised to see it was a winner.

“I thought it was $5,000,” he told Lottery Officials when he accompanied his winning friend to lottery headquarters. “Looking closer it was $50,000, but we still weren’t sure.”

The two of them wanted to be certain, so they ventured back to AJ Liquors for a second opinion. After running the ticket, the cashier confirmed it was indeed a $50,000 prize.

“I was so happy and excited,” said the winner. “And all from a free ticket.”

The two had a mini celebration before claiming the prize. The winner, who works in the restaurant industry, told lottery officials that she could use a vacation and plans to do that with her winnings. She might also purchase a car, she said.

AJ Liquors at 3801 Bladensburg Road in Brentwood receives a $500 bonus from the lottery for its role in selling a $50,000 winning Pick 5 ticket.