Charles and Andrea of Owings Mills are planning a vacation after Charles won a $50,000 prize in the May 19 Pick 5 evening drawing.
Longtime daily numbers player won $50,000 in May 19 drawing
In the early-morning hours of May 20, as he was preparing for work, Charles from Owings Mills got a big surprise when he checked the winning Pick 5 numbers from the previous night.
On May 19, he purchased a $1 straight ticket for the evening drawing with the numbers 7, 7, 1, 3 and 1 — one of several numbers he’s been playing recently that correspond to job identification codes that he handles in his work as a medical coder.
But Charles didn’t find out that his job code had unlocked a $50,000 win until he was headed back to work the next morning.
“I never watch the drawings,” he said. “It was about 6 a.m. and I checked the numbers on my phone and just about dropped the phone on the floor. And it was like, ‘OK, let me let this sink in for a minute.’”
Once he had a chance to comprehend that his ticket was worth $50,000, Charles quickly woke up his wife Andrea to deliver the great news.
“She said, ‘Get outta here!’” Charles recalled.
“It may have had a little more emphasis on it than that,” Andrea said with a laugh.
The $50,000 prize is by far the largest Charles has won in many years of playing Lottery games. He recalled winning a $5,000 prize on Pick 4 during the 1990s. So far, Charles and Andrea haven’t fully planned what they’re going to do with their prize. Two granddaughters recently graduated from college — one from Morgan State and one from Howard University — and Charles plans to give each of them a graduation gift. He and Andrea are also planning to take a vacation, but haven’t yet decided where to go.
Charles bought his lucky ticket at Lakeside Liquors located at 9229 Lakeside Boulevard in Owings Mills. The Baltimore County retailer has reason to celebrate as well. For selling a $50,000-winning Pick 5 ticket, the store will receive a $500 bonus from the Lottery.
