Lucky Birthdays Bring $50,030 Win to Bonus Match 5 Fan

Pasadena retiree has played same numbers for years

A loyal Bonus Match 5 player from Pasadena enjoys her routines, especially making regular visits to her local Royal Farms store to buy sodas and Maryland Lottery games.

The retiree has played Bonus Match 5 using the same birth dates for years. She also plays Pick 3, Pick 4 and added Cash4Life when the Lottery expanded the game to seven days a week. What wasn’t routine was what happened the night of Oct. 16. Our Anne Arundel County player won $50,030 in the Bonus Match 5 drawing!

“We were in bed watching TV,” the winner said, and she starting wondering about results of the Oct. 16 Bonus Match 5 drawing. She decided to go ahead and check the winning numbers against those on her ticket. “I had to get my super-duper glasses because the (number) 26 didn’t look like a 26.” Shocked at seeing her numbers match the winning numbers, she turned to her husband.

“She hands me the ticket and says, ‘Read my numbers,’” he recalled. He did and said, “It’s a big win, isn’t it!”

Not wanting to awaken anyone in the house, the couple celebrated quietly. “Normally, I would have been jumping up and down and having a heart attack,” the winner said, smiling. “I signed the ticket right away.”

Rather than hide it, she followed her husband’s advice and locked the lucky ticket in the safe. She won three times on her ticket — a five-number match for the $50,000 top prize and two three-number matches for $15 each. This lucky lady is no stranger to winning. The 57-year-old has claimed smaller five-figure prizes in the past including $11,000 in combined prizes this year on a couple of Pick 4 tickets.

Her biggest prize ever will go to a worthy cause — their retirements! The winner plans to put the $50,030 prize into two individual retirement accounts.

Her lucky Lottery retailer is also a winner. The Lottery credited Royal Farms #032 at 4500 Mountain Road in Pasadena with a $500 bonus for selling a top-prize winning ticket in the daily game.