To win big with a Maryland Lottery scratch-off is lucky.  Winning big three times in 15 years is remarkable. A 78-year-old Baltimore woman who just claimed her third big prize is thrilled.

Mary Ann Slomba, a retired marketing researcher, was eager to share her story with Lottery officials when she and her son came to claim her most recent prize this week.

“You know, I’ve won twice before,” she said, smiling. “I won $10,000 on a scratch-off two years ago and 15 years ago, I won $50,000!”

Mary Ann’s recent $20,000 win comes from a $1,000 Frenzy scratch-off. She revealed that the $1,000 Frenzy game was not even one of her favorites. She prefers playing bingo and crossword instant tickets.

However, she also likes to purchase instant tickets when they are new or when a fresh pack of scratch-offs is opened. For those two reasons, she purchased three $1,000 Frenzy games at the Rosedale Crown and played the $10 scratch-offs while in the Lottery retailer.

“I had the first three tickets in the batch and the third ticket was the winning ticket,” she said. “I knew it was $20,000, but I still checked it on the machine and showed it to the cashier.”

The cashier, who knows Mary Ann well, confirmed the win.

“It’s my favorite place to go to purchase tickets,” said Mary Ann. Her lucky retailer is located at 8350 Pulaski Highway in Rosedale. “They were so excited for me.”

A mother of two adult sons and grandmother of a 2-year-old, Mary Ann had to wait until her son was available to bring her to Lottery headquarters to claim her $20,000 prize. She plans to use some of the winnings to help her family and will save the rest.