Baltimore man claims $50,000 Bonus Match 5 top prize
Looking for Lottery luck in all the wrong places? Check your fortune cookie!
A Baltimore man did just that and found the cookie’s numbers were the key to a $50,000 Maryland Lottery fortune. The delighted diner won the top prize in the Dec. 21 Bonus Match 5 drawing.
His journey to good fortune began when the 52-year-old and his co-workers ordered carryout from a Howard County Chinese restaurant. While placing the order, our winner insisted that everyone get fortune cookies. He cracked his cookie open and decided to play the lucky numbers from the back of the fortune when he next played Bonus Match 5. His winning combination was 04, 13, 14, 23 and 27.
The day after the drawing, he stopped at the Columbia Town Center Exxon located at 10141 Little Patuxent Parkway and asked the Lottery retailer to check his ticket. The ticket took longer than usual to scan through the machine and, while waiting, he and the clerk joked that the ticket must be a big winner. Lo and behold, the machine did proclaim his ticket a winner! Our loyal player didn’t even ask about the prize amount and simply went on his way. Later that evening, though, he stopped to grab a bite to eat and checked the winning numbers again for the drawing.
“I almost collapsed,” said the Baltimore native, recalling the moment he realized he’d won $50,000. “I wasn’t hungry anymore once I saw that I won.”
The lucky winner usually plays Pick 3/Pick 4, but had decided to give the Bonus Match 5 game a try because of the fortune cookie numbers. He’s no stranger to Lottery wins, having won $5,000 on a scratch-off and $1,000 on Multi-Match a few years ago.
When he claimed his prize at Lottery headquarters, he hadn’t shared the news with anyone yet – including his wife of 14 years! He plans to spend the prize on home improvements and perhaps a vacation. The retailer also gets to share his luck. The Exxon will receive a $500 bonus from the Lottery for selling a top-prize ticket.