Buys lucky ticket for Sept. 9 evening drawing
A third-generation Maryland Lottery player just scored the biggest win of his life by using one of his special five-number combinations on a Pick 5 ticket.
The Owings Mills resident, who said he is following in the lucky footsteps of his Lottery-winning grandfather, has previously scored prizes with Pick 5 boxed bets, which is why his $50,000 win on a $1 straight bet was so unexpected and exciting. The 38-year-old follows a Lottery routine, typically buying his midday and evening tickets separately as close to the drawing time as possible.
However, on the day of his big win, the Baltimore County man wasn’t following his routine. “I was getting my hair cut and got there early,” he said, “so I went to buy tickets. I usually never play my evening numbers that early.”
He visited Windsor Park Liquors in Windsor Mill on Sept. 9 and placed a $1 straight bet on 48240, which is one of his Pick 5 combinations. The healthcare worker, who also has two part-time jobs working for record labels and in retail communications, plays numbers linked to license plates and work phone extension numbers.
Because he checks his tickets the day after the drawing, he didn’t know about his Lottery luck until Sept. 10. He’d gotten home from one of his jobs at 2:30 a.m. and had to get up early to run a couple of errands.
“I hit the snooze two times,” he said, and then he realized his Pick 5 ticket was on the nightstand. He pulled up the Lottery app on his phone and scanned the ticket. “I had one eye open,” the winner recalled. “I said, ‘I think that’s my number!’ I was all the way awake after that.”
The happy winner plans to pay bills with his prize and schedule a vacation cruise.
His Baltimore County retailer also benefits from selling the $50,000-winning ticket. Windsor Park Liquors, located at 2835 North Rolling Road in Windsor Mill, earns a $500 bonus from the Lottery.
