Lottery player thought he won $100. But he was missing a comma — and a few zeroes
A new “eye-catching” lottery game grabbed a Maryland man’s attention while on a coffee stop and led him to a big win, lottery officials said.
Roberto Fuentes Valdivia, a construction and carpentry worker, bought five tickets for the Monopoly X50 scratch-off game and won a top prize on the last ticket, the Maryland Lottery said in a Jan. 31 news release.
“When I scanned the game, I thought it was $100, but then I saw that comma and realized it was $100,000!” Valdivia told lottery officials.
The lottery said Valdivia bought his tickets at a 7-Eleven in Mt. Rainier, about a 5-mile drive northeast from Washington, D.C.
He is the first to win a top prize in the game, which began Jan. 13, lottery officials said. The game also includes 10 second-tier prizes worth $50,000 and several other prizes ranging from $10 to $10,000.
The odds of winning are 1 in 3.29, according to the game’s website.
This story was originally published January 31, 2025 at 12:23 PM with the headline "Lottery player thought he won $100. But he was missing a comma — and a few zeroes."
