19-year-old buys first-ever scratch-off ticket and wins big. ‘I did smile a little’

A 19-year-old man in Maryland had a stroke of luck — beginner’s luck — while playing the lottery recently.

The man, a resident of Clinton, a suburb of Washington, D.C., had never purchased a scratch-off ticket before, but suddenly felt the urge to buy one, according to an April 5 news release from the Maryland Lottery.

“I felt lucky that day,” he told the Maryland Lottery. “Something was telling me to play.”

He bought a $3 scratch-off ticket at an Exxon gas station and ended up winning the ”Frogger” themed game’s top prize of $30,000.

“I tried to keep it in, but I did smile a little,” he told the Maryland Lottery.

The man, a video game enthusiast, said he hasn’t decided how to spend his winnings.

The Exxon station that sold him the winning ticket, located in Fort Washington, will be given a $300 bonus, lottery officials said.