First $30K Top Prize In Maryland Lottery's Red Hot Cash Game Awarded To Rockville Man

ROCKVILLE, MD — A married Rockville man with a baby on the way needed some extra confirmation that he'd won the first $30,000 top prize on the $3 Red Hot Cash scratch-off game from the Maryland Lottery.

The 36-year-old man told lottery officials in Baltimore last week that at first he didn't believe the ticket he'd purchased at a Safeway in Kensington was a winner.

“I scratched the matching numbers going down the line and was shocked,” the $30,000 winner said, in a release. “I thought it had to be a mistake.”

First, he man asked his wife to check the instant ticket to see if it was a winner and then shared the good news with his father, who doubted he's son's luck.

The father and son then visited the retailer where the Rockville man had bought the ticket. The store's ticket scanner and cashier confirmed that the scratch-off ticket was a top-prize winner.

Last week, the father and son traveled to lottery headquarters in Baltimore to claim the $30,000 prize. The money will be used to help the expanding family and will pay for a celebratory family dinner, according to a lottery release.

The Maryland Lottery will give the Safeway #2753 located at 10541 Connecticut Ave., in Kensington a $300 bonus for selling the $30,000 top prize.