Lottery vending machine mistake earns Maryland woman $50,000

Dec. 27 (UPI) -- A Maryland woman said accidentally pushing the wrong button while using a lottery vending machine led to her winning a $50,000 prize.

The 43-year-old Hagerstown woman told Maryland Lottery officials she was suing a lottery vending machine at Halfway Liquors in Hagerstown when she accidentally pushed a button to dispense a $5 Deluxe Crossword ticket instead of the $20 scratch-off game she had meant to buy.

"I was like, 'Dang,' when that ticket came down," the woman recalled. "I don't even typically like the Crossword games, but this worked out well."

The player said she scratched the ticket off at home and scanned it with the Maryland Lottery smartphone app, revealing the message: "Congratulations -- $50,000 Winner."

"It was unreal," she said. "I thought something was wrong with the app, so I scanned it again."

The winner said she called her children in to share the news.

"I put the ticket on the counter and scanned it again so they could see the winning message," she recalled. "They couldn't believe it was real."

The player said some of her winnings will go toward renovations on the house she recently purchased and the rest will go into the bank.