'Pre-holiday surprise' for wife earns Maryland couple a $50,000 lottery prize

Dec. 28 (UPI) -- A Maryland man's "pre-holiday surprise" for his wife proved to be a generous gift when the scratch-off lottery ticket won a $50,000 jackpot.

The Gaithersburg man told Maryland Lottery officials he was heading home from a job site, when he stopped at the Quince Orchard Shell in Gaithersburg to buy a few scratch-off tickets for his wife.

"She loves scratch-offs, so I stopped to pick up a few for a pre-holiday surprise," the man said.

The couple scratched off the tickets together that evening, and the wife's last ticket, a $10 Ca$h Bonus scratch-off, led to her second surprise of the day.

"She scratched off a $10,000 prize and showed it to me. Then, several more appeared one by one," he said.

The ticket earned the couple a total jackpot of $50,000.

"I still don't believe it. This is very exciting," the man said.

The winning couple said they plan to use their winnings to pay off bills and help their parents.