Baltimore man credits his memory for top-prize win
He’s been playing the same Bonus Match 5 numbers for years, a Baltimore man told Lottery officials. And for years, he continued, those numbers have paid off in the form of “lots and lots of small and not-so-small wins, but nothing quite like this!”
The 77-year-old school bus driver put his lucky combination together based on game results he remembers going back 20 years. “I can remember numbers and number groups from some of the first Bonus Match 5 drawings you ever had. They just stick in my head,” he told officials.
He was watching TV last month when the Sept. 16 winning numbers scrolled across the screen. “I recognized them right away,” he said, “all five of them!” Not willing to believe that his ticket matched all of the winning numbers, the Bonus Match 5 fan had his family check his ticket. He then called the Lottery’s winning numbers phone line. It all checked out.
“I’ve had four numbers match several times, but, to be truthful, I never expected to get all five,” he said.
Our winner is in the market for a new car, something a bit smaller and a bit less yellow than his work vehicle, and this is where he’ll use his $50,000 in Bonus Match 5 cash. The owners of Long Gate Mobil, the Lottery retailer that sold his ticket, will receive a $500 bonus from the Lottery for selling the top-prize winning ticket. The lucky gas station can be found at 4398 Montgomery Road in Ellicott City.
