The man, who chose to remain anonymous, claimed his prize nearly a month after winning
Credit: Maryland Lottery
NEED TO KNOW
- A Maryland man won a $570,000 lottery jackpot after changing up his usual routine
- “I’m looking at the numbers and looking at my ticket. I thought, this can’t be true,” the man said
- The man claimed his prize nearly a month after winning
A Maryland man is celebrating a life-changing lottery jackpot after a switch in his routine led to a massive win.
The Ellicott City dad — who chose the nickname "Multi-Match Maniac" to maintain his anonymity — scored a $570,000 lottery prize on April 16. As he collected his winnings the next month, he told the Maryland Lottery that he actually switched up his routine the day he won.
Twice a week for years on end, the man has been playing the same numbers in the Multi-Match lottery game — and while he "always" scans his ticket in order to see if he had a winner on his hands, this time he didn't.
“For some reason this time, I looked up the winning numbers," he said.
Credit: Maryland Lottery
Right away, he found himself thinking, "this can't be true."
Staring back at him was a list of numbers, and every last one aligned with the last line of numbers in the last game on his ticket: 02-06-08-12-29-38, per the Maryland Lottery's Multi-Match page. The perfect match meant the man had won a whopping $570,000 — the game's highest jackpot.
In the same drawing, 15 people won the second-highest prize of $1,000 by matching five of six numbers in one row. One additional player won a $2,000 prize for matching 10 of 18 total numbers on the ticket.
After he overcame the shock of his win, the next day, the man went to his local Lottery retailer, where he was told his prize was actually too large to cash.
This response sent the man into a panic, he admitted, so he signed the ticket and hid it.
Finally, nearly 30 days later, and after countless nightmares that he'd lost his ticket, he finally went to lottery headquarters to claim his prize, opting to take home the $320,000 cash option.
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As for what he plans to do with the money, that's easy. The dad says he'll use it towards college tuition for his daughter. "That's my favorite part of all of this," he said, noting that he's also planning to set aside some of the prize for savings and investments.
If you or someone you know is struggling with a gambling problem, please contact the National Problem Gambling Helpline Network at 1-800-522-4700 or go to gamtalk.org.
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