‘Basketball Man’ Wins $50,000 on Pick 5, Helps Co-Worker Win $25,000

“Basketball Man” of La Plata saw his lucky Pick 5 number delivers a $50,000 and $25,000 prize.

La Plata man sends co-worker to buy tickets for both of them

A Charles County man had such good Lottery luck that it passed to his co-worker. The La Plata resident, who nicknamed himself “Basketball Man” to tell his Lottery story, won $50,000 playing Pick 5 in November.

The construction worker plays the lucky number 12355, which is the birthday of a relative. “Basketball Man” plays that number every day but on Nov. 18, he couldn’t make it to a Lottery retailer in time to buy his ticket for the midday drawing. A helpful co-worker visited the Bryantown Store in Bryantown and purchased “Basketball Man’s” $1 straight bet ticket. The co-worker then tried his own luck with a 50-cent straight bet ticket using the same number. Both were big winners! “Basketball Man” won $50,000 and his co-worker won $25,000.

“My buddy was happy that I sent him out for that ticket,” said “Basketball Man” with a smile.

He occasionally plays Pick 3 and Pick 4 but became a daily player in February, when the Maryland Lottery introduced the Pick 5 game. He loves the idea that he can spend $1 and receive a return investment of $50,000. “I like that you can pay less and win more money,” he said.

“Basketball Man” is undecided on how he is going to spend his prize, but said he plans to be very conservative with his winnings. “I can promise you that it is going to last for a while,” he explained.

Bryantown Store at 6435 Leonardtown Road was also a big winner as the store will receive a bonus of $750 for selling the $50,000 and $25,000 winning tickets.