A Carroll County man who won $50,000 in the April Fool’s Day Bonus Match 5 drawing didn’t believe it at first when he checked his ticket.
But the winner is no fool and says the prize money will put him and his wife on the path to home ownership.
A regular player whose previous personal best win was $40, he claimed his windfall April 6 at Lottery headquarters in Baltimore and recounted his tale of initial disbelief. The day after the drawing, he took the ticket to check it at a Lottery retailer, but thought there was something wrong with it when the message on the machine told him to take it to Lottery headquarters. He showed it to a clerk, who checked the ticket again and informed him of the magnitude of the prize.
“I didn’t believe it!” he said, adding that when the reality of the situation sank in, it made him nervous.
His wife at his side when he claimed, he said they’ll be pondering a real estate purchase.
He bought the winning ticket at Total Discount Liquors at 1438 Liberty Road in Eldersburg and the shop receives a bonus of $500, equal to 1% of the prize amount.
