Maryland Man’s Generous Gesture Almost Cost Him $50,000

A Maryland man who won a $50,000 prize playing the lottery says he nearly gave the scratch-off ticket to a friend.

The Maryland Lottery said Air Force veteran John Hamilton Jr. of Cumberland visited its Baltimore headquarters on July 21 to claim a $50,000 prize after scratching a winning ticket in the $5,000,000 LUXE game.

The ticket was validated as having won one of the 12 LUXE prizes worth $50,000 in the scratch-off game that began circulating in February 2026. Hamilton told the lottery that he nearly gave away the winning ticket.

Hamilton detailed that he ran into a friend on July 4 that he owed $40 to and remembered he had purchased the $50 scratch-off the day before at the Sheetz gas station located at 14606 McMullen Highway in Cresaptown. Hamilton says he offered the ticket to his friend to resolve the $40 debt, but his wife interjected.

Wife Saves $50,000

Hamilton claims he told his friend that the scratcher could be worth much more than the $40 he was owed. That’s when Hamilton’s wife interrupted the conversation.

“She put her hand between us and intercepted the play. That’s when I thought I should play it and see if it really was a winner,” Hamilton said.

Later, Hamilton sat in his car and scratched off the LUXE diamonds. Before he had even scratched the entire ticket, he saw he had won $50,000.

Nervous, Hamilton returned to the Sheetz where he purchased the lottery ticket.

“I showed [the cashier] and asked if it was real, and she said, ‘Looks like it,’ and that I should scratch the rest of it,” Hamilton said.

The cashier then scanned the ticket and confirmed that it was a third-tier $50,000 prize winner. The LUXE game’s top prize is $5 million, with the second-tier prize at $200,000.

There remain two LUXE scratchers worth $5 million, eight worth $200,000, and nine $50,000 in circulation. The totals, however, may include tickets that have been sold but not yet redeemed.

Lottery Hysteria

It’s a big weekend for lottery players, as the jackpot for tonight’s July 24 Mega Millions drawing is an estimated $743 million. The one-time cash option is at $323.4 million.

On Saturday (July 25), Powerball will offer a projected jackpot of $600 million, with a cash value of $262.8 million.

Mega Millions has gone 129 days since the jackpot last hit on March 17, 2026. Powerball has endured 83 days without a jackpot winner since the game’s top prize last hit on May 2, 2026.