Man's $20 gift to wife turns into $50,000 lottery prize

Nov. 18 (UPI) -- A low-cost gift from a Maryland man to his wife turned out to be the perfect present when the scratch-off lottery ticket won a $50,000 jackpot.

The 75-year-old Montgomery County man told Maryland Lottery officials his wife is currently unable to leave the house, so he ventured forth to buy her some scratch-off tickets from Talbert's Ice and Beverage Service in Bethesda.

The man said his wife made quick work of the tickets.

"I call her a cheater," the man joked. "I say that because most of the time, she scratches the barcode and scans the ticket on the app to see if it's a winner."

He said she used her usual method for the tickets he brought home and one, a $20 Monopoly scratch-off, came up as a $50,000 winner.

"It was really surprising," said the husband, who claimed the winnings on his wife's behalf at lottery headquarters in Baltimore.

The man said some of the money will go toward paying off bills and the rest is going into savings.