Claim top prize from Jan. 10 drawing
Three co-workers are celebrating after pooling their funds to buy a Bonus Match 5 ticket for the Jan. 10 drawing and winning the game’s $50,000 top prize. Two members of the group have played for many years with the third joining just six months ago.
The trio, who perform field service on metro passenger trains, came to Maryland Lottery headquarters together to claim their prize. The Marylanders hail from Eldersburg and Jefferson while one player lives in Hanover, Pa. The co-workers picked the Eldersburg player as their spokesperson to share the story of their big win.
The Carroll County resident said he collects the money and purchases tickets for the group. They typically play Bonus Match 5 and jackpot games.
“I go out weekly to buy the tickets,” said the 61-year-old, “and the next day, I sit with a cup of coffee and check all of the games.” This is exactly how things played out last week. As he began sipping coffee and checking the winning numbers, the loyal player realized he was matching each number, one by one.
“I thought, ‘What a sweet deal if we could match four numbers.’ But then, I saw that it was all five that we matched and thought, ‘This can’t be possible.’ ” Excited, the winner said he screamed to his wife, “Tell me I’m not wrong.”
The father of two said one of his girls came running downstairs to see what all of the commotion was about and the family celebrated together. The next thing to do was share the great news with the rest of the crew. The Eldersburg man concocted a fun way to reveal the win to his friends.
“I sent a picture of the winning ticket to them and asked them to check it for me because my Internet was down,” the winner said, chuckling. “After they checked the ticket, they called me back, saying, ‘This is a joke, right?’”
Later, the winner made an appointment to claim the $50,000 prize. The trio headed to Lottery Headquarters last week to do just that. Before taxes, the players will each receive around $16,667.
Unsure of what his friends might do with their share, the Eldersburg winner said he plans to spend his prize on a family ski trip and some home improvements.
The lucky Eldersburg Lottery retailer that sold their $50,000 ticket is also a winner. Eldersburg Exxon located at 1305 Liberty Road in Carroll County received a $500 bonus from the Lottery for selling a top-prize winning ticket in the Bonus Match 5 game.
