Maryland student wins $50K from scratch-off ticket

• The Maryland Lottery's Lucky 777 brought a $50,000 tier-two prize to a university student
• The lucky winner initially thought he won only $5,000
• A range of prizes between $20 and $1m await Lucky 777 players

A university student in Maryland will return to school this fall $50,000 richer, after scoring a tier-two prize from a popular scratch-off game.

Earlier this week, the Maryland Lottery confirmed that one student scored a tier-two prize from its game, Lucky 777.

The student has been playing lottery games since turning 18

The fortunate Towson University student chose to remain anonymous but selected the alias, "Lucky Tiger," when receiving his big win.

The Montgomery County resident purchased his winning ticket at Onley 7-Eleven at 18120 Georgia Avenue.

The $20 scratch-off game grants players a chance to win a prize between $20 and $1m.

The winner admitted to playing lottery games ever since he turned 18.

The lucky student initially thought that he won only $5,000.

Scratching off the ticket, "Lucky Tiger" saw the word Autowin in one box with the prize amount of $5,000.

"I saw it was a winner. Then I gave it to my mom to check," the student, who chose his alias after his school mascot, said.

After the student's mother looked at the ticket, she uncovered more winning boxes.

As it turns out, his son missed three Autowins of $5,000, as well as a 3X symbol on a $10,000 prize.

Wanting to make sure of the win, the student scanned the ticket and was surprised by the total, which came to $50,000.

"I was ecstatic when I found out it was that much money," the fortunate student said.

Earlier this week, "Lucky Tiger" and his mother visited the Lottery headquarters to claim the tier-two prize from Lucky 777.

"Lucky Tiger" admitted to planning to spend some of the money from the lottery prize and save the rest.

"It was his big first win. He needs to pay for college," the winner's mom said.

Many prizes remain up for grabs from the Lucky 777 scratch-off

There are four top prizes of $1m each in play from the Lucky 777 ticket.

After the most recent tier-two win, five more prizes of $50,000 each remain in play as well.

A tier-three prize from the $20 scratch-off awards $10,000 and there are 67 such prizes in play.

Within the lower prize tiers, players can win a range of prizes from $20 to $5,000.

The overall odds of winning any prize from the Lucky 777 ticket are 1 in 3.10.

Image credit: Maryland Lottery