“Lucky Stars” helped this Mega Millions subscriber find his way to a $1 million prize. |
Plans to spend his prize helping others
A longtime Maryland Lottery Mega Millions subscriber is thanking his personal set of lucky stars for his $1 million win in the Aug. 26 drawing.
The retired hospital worker told Lottery officials that his winning numbers are decades old and came to him – by fate or by luck – in Wisconsin. After watching shooting stars one night, the Bowie man returned to the site the next day and found an abandoned Lottery playslip on the ground. That playslip carried numbers he chose, years later, to play on his Mega Millions subscription through the Maryland Lottery.
The lucky 70-year-old didn’t even know he’d won until he received a call from Lottery officials with the good news. His quiet reaction? “I knew I’d win one day,” he said calmly. A colleague told him years ago, “ ‘You can count your lucky stars’ and I did.”
He is a strong advocate of playing Mega Millions by subscription.
“One of the wonderful things about the subscription is its consistency,” he said. “You never miss a drawing with a subscription. That helps you win!”
The happy history buff, who is one of eight children, plans to spend his winnings secretly helping others. “The reason I want to remain anonymous is I want to help people the way I think they should be helped,” he said, smiling.
The lucky man urges players to consider buying subscriptions. At the Maryland Lottery, players can subscribe to two games: Mega Millions and Multi-Match. With a Mega Millions subscription, you can play your numbers for 13, 26 or 52 weeks. Maryland currently has nearly 9,500 active Mega Millions subscribers and almost 3,900 active Multi-Match subscribers.
Mr. “Lucky Stars” also is an advocate of playing Lottery games responsibly. “It’s important not to gamble but have a reasonable approach,” he said.