West Baltimore’s Monique Jackson celebrates her $100,000 Pick 5 win.
Baltimore mom wins big with $1 straight bet on two tickets
Monique Jackson likes to use family birthdays when choosing numbers for her daily games. This is not unheard of, of course, but the second step in her process is not as common. Regardless, her system worked last week. The $100,000 prize she claimed at Maryland Lottery headquarters last week makes that abundantly clear.
The 41-year-old Port of Baltimore employee had the Pick 5 combination she wanted to play already picked out when she stopped at Village Family Mart in Dundalk on her way to work. Her choice that day: 16017.
“I knew the birthday number I wanted and the extra number to add to it, and then I played it twice,” Monique said. The “played it twice” second step of her strategy boosted her Lottery payday.
“I always buy two of the same ticket, sometimes one boxed and one straight, but always two,” she said. “It doesn’t always work, but when it does, it works big.”
Monique recognized her Pick 5 combination when she reviewed the June 7 midday and evening drawing results the next day while at a Lottery retailer. “I asked another customer in the store to look because I didn’t believe my eyes. She said she saw it, too. We shared a good hug.”
Believing that she’d bought one straight bet ticket and one boxed version of her lucky combination, Monique was stunned when her husband, upon checking her tickets, pointed out that both were $1 straight bets. “I screamed!” she said. “I grabbed him and jumped up and down. Two $50,000 winners! It was an amazing moment.”
This double Pick 5 win in the June 7 evening drawing moves Monique and her family one step closer to the new home they are saving to buy. She tells us that she will also share her good fortune with family members and friends. And, of course, her kids will enjoy some of the winnings. “My son already asked me what his cut will be,” she said.
Her lucky retailer also wins. Village Family Mart at 12 North Dundalk Avenue in Baltimore County earned two $500 bonuses for selling the two winning Pick 5 tickets.
