A Montgomery County family has a $5 Lottery purchase to thank for changing their lives. Using a number combination issued them on a past quick pick Mega Millions ticket, what had been a non-winner a week earlier became their ticket to a new home, thanks to a $4 million prize.
“Something about the numbers the Lottery machine gave us just felt right,” one of the pair said March 12 after claiming the prize. “Even though they didn’t win anything, we played them again,” the other continued. The couple, who elected to remain anonymous, are weekly Mega Millions players.
Their $4 million winning ticket correctly matched the first five numbers in the March 10 drawing, missing only the last number – the Mega Ball. This gave the Silver Spring pair a second-tier prize, which has a base prize of $1 million, but each $5 Mega Millions ticket has its own multiplier, which increases non-jackpot prizes by a factor of at least 2. In their case, the multiplier was 4X, boosting the win to $4 million.
“Our hearts were beating so fast when we realized how much we won,” one of the pair said. “We just looked at each other trying to figure out what to say. Neither of us could.”
The two plan to buy a new home with their winnings, something that has been atop their wish list for years.
The Mega Millions ticket was purchased from the Giant grocery store at 13490 New Hampshire Avenue in Silver Spring. The Montgomery County business receives a $2,500 bonus for selling the second-tier winner.
