Baltimore County man adds Super Bonus to ticket
A Catonsville grandfather who has played the same eight lucky Keno numbers for years may have drained the last ounce of luck out of them with his $60,000 Labor Day win!
His happy retailer, Ships Café Restaurant and Crab House in Catonsville, is still celebrating the 60-year-old’s feat. The business owner hung a homemade sign on the Keno monitor, the lucky player said, just as he was attempting to keep a low profile.
“I haven’t played since,” said the loyal Maryland Lottery player. “People I don’t even know are congratulating me.”
His oldest daughter, who accompanied him to Lottery headquarters to claim the prize, still has the electrifying text message he sent her about his win. The Baltimore County resident had labored the entire holiday weekend on a friend’s deck. By Monday afternoon, the job was finished and he headed to his favorite Keno hangout to enjoy a beer, a cheesesteak sub and 10 games of Keno.
“I decided to treat myself,” his text read. Lottery luck gave him a treat, too!
The father of four played the numbers 20, 23, 35, 38, 66, 69, 77 and 79, adding the Super Bonus feature to his 10-draw ticket. Super Bonus offers the chance to multiply winnings up to 20 times and, at a minimum, doubles any prize.
His lucky numbers go back to the day years ago when he found a woman’s purse in the payphone booth at a store. The purse contained the owner’s wallet, five $100 bills and credit cards. He called the owner and left a message that her purse was at the store with the money and credit cards in it. Later that day, he went to dinner with his mom “and I hit for $500,” the winner recalled. “She said, ‘See, you got your reward.’”
The grandfather of six has enjoyed small rewards over the years with those very same lucky numbers. In addition to his $60,000 prize, the employee of a restaurant equipment manufacturer won a coupon for a free $2 scratch-off under a special Keno promotion that ended the day of his win.
The happy man plans to buy new furniture with his prize and save the rest. His retailer, located at 828 Frederick Road in Catonsville, is also a winner. Ships Café Restaurant and Crab House earns a $600 bonus from the Lottery for selling a winning Keno ticket with a prize value of more than $10,000.