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She must have been very good last year.

A Maryland mother received a scratch-off lottery ticket as a Christmas stocking stuffer — and won $100,000.

The lucky Worcester County resident, who was not identified, told Maryland Lottery officials that she never buys her own lottery tickets but occasionally “indulges in scratch-off fun” when gifted them by a family member.

On Christmas Day, the woman and her relatives were gathered together playing their gifted $10 scratch-off “Ultimate Cash” instant tickets, when she matched the winning number 43 in the fourth of the game’s five rows for a $100,000 top prize.

The room erupted with screams of excitement — but the winner was initially skeptical.

“At first, I thought it was fake because my family jokes all the time,” the woman was quoted as saying.

But the win was very much real, and the mom later went to the Maryland Lottery headquarters to claim her six-figure prize.


  A teacher’s aide from Maryland won $100,000 from a scratch-off lottery ticket she received as a Christmas gift. UPI A teacher’s aide from Maryland won $100,000 from a scratch-off lottery ticket she received as a Christmas gift. UPI

  The winning instant lottery ticket was a stocking stuffer gifted to her by a family member. Shutterstock / J. Helgason The winning instant lottery ticket was a stocking stuffer gifted to her by a family member. Shutterstock / J. Helgason

The happy mom, who works as a teacher’s aide and lives in the Salisbury area, said “she may indulge and splurge on some items but will put most of the funds into her children’s savings accounts,” the lottery said. 

Thirsty’s, the Delmar, Maryland, gas station that sold the winning scratch-off card, will receive a $1,000 bonus from the state lottery.

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