Edgewater man wins $50,000 top prize
An appliance salesman from Edgewater discovered he was wired for winning this week when he claimed $50,000 from a Bonus Match 5 ticket purchased nearly six months ago. The 49-year-old held the ticket for 162 days – just 20 days shy of the maximum time allowed to collect his prize – before heading to Lottery headquarters.
The lucky winner is a frequent player, regularly buying his tickets at a favorite retailer and playing a series of the same digits – his twin daughters’ age and hospital bracelet numbers. But it was a break from these norms that may have contributed to the win.
“I was pressed for time, so I purchased my daily ticket from a gas station on my way, not my regular stop,” he said.
He bought a Bonus Match 5 ticket with his regular numbers on one line and two lines of random Quick Pick numbers at the Shell gas station located at 9280 All Saints Road in Laurel. But he didn’t discover he was a winner until he returned to his usual location. The clerk there knew his regular numbers and asked him if he had won. The numbers from the previous evening were close, but not his regular numbers. But when he glanced at the winning numbers again, he noticed that the numbers on one of his Quick Pick lines matched exactly, winning the game’s top prize.
Since discovering the win, the lucky man has gone about his life, only sharing the news with his wife and a friend. He said he plans to save the prize money in a college fund for his twin daughters. The Shell station on All Saints Road is a winner as well. The retailer will receive a $500 bonus from the Maryland Lottery for selling the winning ticket.
Bonus Match 5 drawings are held nightly, with a top prize of $50,000. A promotion running now through Nov. 15 will give players a chance to double the top prize to $100,000 if their ticket carries a randomly printed “Doubler” message. In addition, the Maryland Lottery will pay the taxes on all Bonus Match 5 $50,000 and $100,000 prizes for tickets purchased now through Nov. 15.