By far the most complex game on the Maryland Lottery menu is Racetrax, so a lot of the people who win big prizes on the game are regular players, but that wasn’t the case for a Prince George’s County man who hit July 3 for $61,155.30.
“That was beginner’s luck,” he said July 16 when he claimed his prize at Lottery headquarters in Baltimore.
Like many people, he and his wife are casual players who become interested in playing Powerball and Mega Millions when the jackpot grows to the hundreds of millions of dollars. On a recent stop at the7-Eleven store at 15700 Mount Oak Road in Bowie, however, the mood struck to buy a Racetrax ticket.
He ended up picking long odds horses 9, 10, 11, and 12 (the ones with the best payoffs) to finish in the first four spots. The bet: a superfecta box for 10 cents, which is actually a 10 cent bet for each of the selected horses to finish in all of the first four places.
But the odds on those horses are so long that the payoffs on a win are high, even on a 10-cent bet. The horses in this case finished 9, 12, 10 and 11. Since he placed a 10-cent bet, his prize netted out to $61,155.30.
“I never dreamed I’d be that one,” he said.
When he got home and told his wife – often the person who initiates Lottery ticket purchases – her initial reaction was one of dismissal and disbelief. But then he showed her the ticket and, he said, “She gave me a big old hug.”
With the winnings, he is pondering installing a play set for their grandchildren in his back yard.
“They’re good kids. We’ve been blessed,” he said of his children and grandchildren.
Asked if he planned to play Racetrax a little more frequently, his answer was an enthusiastic, “Yes, without a doubt.”
The 7-Eleven store receives a bonus of $611.55.
