A Maryland bartender who received a pair of scratch-off tickets as a tip won $10 and used the winnings to buy another ticket, which earned her a $100,000 top prize. Photo courtesy of the Maryland Lottery

Aug. 21 (UPI) -- A Maryland bartender who received a pair of scratch-off lottery tickets as a tip used her $10 winnings to buy another ticket, which turned out to be a $100,000 winner.

The Maryland Lottery said the 32-year-old Baltimore bartender, whose name was not released, received a pair of instant tickets as a tip recently, and she won $10 from the scratch-offs.


The woman stopped by an Essex BP station after work and used her winnings to buy a $10 Super Triple 10s scratch-off ticket, which turned out to be a $100,000 winner.

The bartender said she was so shocked by the ticket that she woke up her stepdaughter to double-check that it was a winner.

"When I realized it was real, I cried," she told lottery officials. "This really comes at a good time."

The woman said she called her grandmother to tell her about her good fortune and couldn't sleep that night.

The woman brought her grandmother and uncle with her to claim her prize at Maryland Lottery headquarters in Baltimore.

"This is too wonderful to believe," the winner's grandmother said.

"She also was in an accident two weeks ago and really needs a car," her uncle said. "Instead of the cheaper cars we were looking at, now she can get something nice."

The winner said she plans to use her windfall to buy a new car, pay off her bills, and take a short vacation.

"I can get my feet back on the ground," she said. "This is a blessing."