“Multi-Match Maniac” from Ellicott City plans to pay his daughter’s college tuition and invest, after hitting a $570,000 Multi-Match jackpot last month.
A Howard County man hit the Multi-Match jackpot in April and claimed his prize this week. The grateful player has been playing the same numbers, twice a week, for years and it has finally paid off.
“Multi-Match Maniac,” a nickname the anonymous winner chose, is still in shock after winning the jackpot on April 16.
While claiming his prize on May 14, he told Lottery officials that he did something he doesn’t normally do when checking his numbers for that drawing.
“I never look at the winning numbers, I always scan my ticket,” he said. “But, for some reason this time, I looked up the winning numbers.”
“Multi-Match Maniac” is still in a state of shock from what he saw when checking his ticket. The very last line of numbers, in the very last game on his ticket, matched all of the Multi-Match winning numbers drawn that night. He was the winner of a $570,000 jackpot.
“I’m looking at the numbers and looking at my ticket,” he said. “I thought, this can’t be true.”
The next day the lucky player scanned his ticket at his local Lottery retailer and the message told him the prize was too large to cash there. This created a wave of panic for the big winner. He immediately signed his ticket and hid it, but was still dazed by his good fortune. His nervousness caused a delay in him claiming prize.
“Multi-Match Maniac” said he couldn’t sleep and was having dreams about his ticket going missing. But after nearly 30 days, he finally claimed his prize.
The winner chose the $320,000 cash option, and is thrilled that he has money for his daughter’s college tuition. “That’s my favorite part of all of this,” he said with a smile. He also plans to save and invest.
The winning ticket was purchased from the 7-Eleven store located at 8251 Snowden River Parkway in Columbia. The retailer will receive a $1,000 bonus from the Lottery for selling the winning ticket.
