Virginia man celebrates birthday early after winning Bonus Match 5 top prize
A Stafford, Va. resident celebrated his 66th birthday this month after crossing a major item off his wish list – a $50,000 Bonus Match 5 top prize! He kicked off his celebration early with his win in the Dec. 6 drawing.
The federal employee’s excitement began with a series of lucky Bonus Match 5 numbers picked from something else that makes him very lucky – his family. He assembled the five numbers from the birth dates of his kids and grandkids. That evening, the winning numbers matched his selections of 3, 23, 25, 27 and 29; the Bonus Ball was 19.
The Maryland Lottery winner discovered his luck when he checked the results at mdlottery.com. When he saw that his numbers matched the winning numbers, he got his wife out of bed so that she could confirm his $50,000 prize.
“I had to make sure I wasn’t seeing things,” he said.
The lucky player said his Bonus Match 5 winnings mean freedom from some large household bills. He plans to use the sum to pay off auto loans.
The site of his lucky ticket purchase is Mike’s Restaurant and Liquors located on 5301 Indian Head Highway in Oxon Hill. For selling a top prize ticket in the game, the restaurant will earn a $500 retailer bonus from the Lottery.