Two police officers from Joppa are still celebrating the arrival of a ticket that came with no fines, no points and no warnings. This lucky ticket came from the Maryland Lottery and delivered a $10,000 prize.

The Harford County husband and wife became big winners in an instant playing the 5 Card Cash poker-themed instant and draw game. The instant magic happened for the 42-year-old male half of the Baltimore city police team. He stopped at Island Liquors in Joppa and bought a $2 ticket that printed out with a Royal Flush – an Ace, King, Queen, Jack and 10 of diamonds – good for an instant prize of $10,000.

The 5 Card Cash game offers two ways to win – up to $10,000 instantly or during an evening drawing for a top prize of up to $100,000. If a player wins instantly, they can collect their prize and receive a copy of the original ticket in case it also wins in the nightly drawing.

The lucky player quickly confirmed his win with the clerk, and was astonished at the size of his prize. While the odds of winning any instant win prize are one in five, the odds of winning the $10,000 instant-win top-prize are just over 1 in 600,000.

“I called my wife and asked her how much she loved me, and then told her that I had won $10,000,” said the happy winner. Their wedding anniversary is around the corner and they plan to use the prize to celebrate in style with a trip to Las Vegas.

The winning ticket was purchased at Island Liquors at 1018 Joppa Farm Road in Joppa.