James Smith of Lansdowne, left, is joined by his roommate at Maryland Lottery |
Maryland angler hooks second-tier prize from Saturday night’s drawing
James Smith set off on a fishing trip Saturday unaware that he’d hooked a prize catch worth $1 million before he even left shore. The avid fisherman walked around with the winning second-tier Powerball ticket in his pocket all day and night before finally checking it at home on Sunday.
“I only play Powerball and Mega Millions,” James explained. “I had 20 tickets for this drawing and this was probably the seventh ticket I checked.”
As soon as the Lansdowne man saw that he had matched five numbers, he rushed upstairs to ask his roommate to go on the Maryland Lottery’s website to see if he was indeed a big winner. Sure enough, James held a ticket worth $1 million.
“I just put the ticket into my wallet and waited for Monday,” James said. “I haven’t told anyone about the win yet except my roommate.”
James’s roommate, who accompanied him to Lottery headquarters, was quick to pipe up, “He probably won’t be able to keep this a secret for too long.”
For now, James plans to put the money toward a home of his own. “I’m disabled, so I want to get a nice one-level rancher to make moving around easier,” he said. “I would definitely like something with brick.”
James found his Powerball luck at the 7-Eleven #39352 located at 3023 Hammonds Ferry Road in Baltimore City.