Valentine's surprise for Maryland Lottery couple
Wednesday February 16th 2011A couple from Maryland certainly won't forget Valentine's Day 2011 after a romantic trip to their local bar saw them walk away with $50,000. Joe and Deborah Rawls decided to pop into one of their favourite watering holes on Monday to have a drink and play lotto games to celebrate Valentine's Day. They bought four Money Mania scratchcards but failed to win anything. It was only on their fifth and final $5 instant game that they scooped the jackpot prize.
Mr Rawls said: "I couldn't believe it. I ran up to the guy working and said 'check this for me, will ya?' It seemed too good to be true. I figured I was reading it wrong."
The Baltimore City couple told Maryland Lottery organisers that they plan to spend part of the winnings paying off the remaining loan on their car which Mrs Rawls said had become "a little bit of a burden". The pair will also put some cash towards school tuition fees, while the remaining money will go to the bank in case of a rainy day.