Gaithersburg resident “Cha Cha,” a nickname only the winner’s wife will recognize, celebrates his $500,000 Multi-Match subscription win! |
Sixth winner to claim jackpot in 2017
A Montgomery County man had a lot to celebrate last week in addition to Independence Day. The night before the holiday, on July 3, the Multi-Match game subscription holder unknowingly matched all six Multi-Match numbers, taking home the game’s $500,000 jackpot.
The 67-year-old learned of his win the following Wednesday morning when Lottery Communications Director Carole Gentry called him to share the news.
“The reason I like the subscription is because I don’t have to stay on top of checking the numbers,” the project manager told Lottery officials. “I get a check in the mail every so often for small amounts, but I never get a phone call. I thought something was wrong when Carole called me last week.”
The excited, yet shocked winner kept the news to himself until later that evening when his wife came home from work.
“I told her I heard there was a subscription winner in Gaithersburg and handed her my subscription card,” he said. “I then read off the winning numbers and asked her if any matched. She didn’t believe me when I told her we won.”
The winner chose the $250,000 cash option. Although he is unsure as to what he’ll do with his newfound windfall, he mentioned a few ideas from donations to vacations to his grandchild’s education.
This win followed jackpot hits from the June 26 and June 29 drawings. The Lottery is still waiting for those two winners to come forward and claim their prizes. The winning ticket in the June 29 drawing, also for a $500,000 jackpot, was sold by Broadway Pizza in Rockville. The June 26 winning ticket, which is worth $1 million, was sold by Cross Keys Exxon in Baltimore.
With these three hits, Multi-Match has now produced six jackpot winners during 2017. The other three were a Glen Burnie man who claimed a $1.35 million prize in the Jan. 16 drawing; a Berlin man who claimed a $1 million jackpot in the March 23 drawing; and an Ellicott City man who claimed a $725,000 prize in the April 27 drawing.
The top three jackpot wins in the game’s history were $4.8 million on Sept. 19, 2009; $4.45 million on March 18, 2010 and $3.8 million on Dec. 16, 2010.
Multi-Match, which launched in 2006, is a $2 draw game played in Maryland. The jackpot starts at $500,000 and increases after each drawing that does not produce a jackpot winner. Watch the drawings at 11:22 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays on WBAL TV. Results also are available online at mdlottery.com and on your smartphone. Simply download the free MD Lottery app in the Apple and android app stores.