Perturbed lottery player turns unpleasant driving experience into $500,000
By Kate Northrop
GLEN BURNIE, Md. — An encounter with an inconsiderate driver on the road led to a Maryland man using their license plate numbers in a Pick 5 drawing and winning an astounding $500,000 prize.
A Maryland man noted the license plate of a rude driver and won a $500,000 prize in a single drawing using those numbers.
While safe driving practices are what we'd expect to see on the road, we don't always encounter the most responsible drivers.
An anonymous Maryland man encountered just that — an inconsiderate driver who cut him off on the highway in late December. The occasional Pick 5 player took note of the numbers on the offending driver's license plate and decided he would use them to play the lottery later that day.
The Anne Arundel County resident stopped at Doc's F&B Liquors in Glen Burnie on Baltimore Annapolis Boulevard and played the numbers straight for $1 each but spent a total of $10 on ten identical tickets containing that combination.
"I figure if you're going to play, you should play big," the winner told the Maryland Lottery.
The numbers he played in the Dec. 23 evening drawing were 3-6-4-8-9, Lottery Managing Director of Communications Seth Elkin relayed to Lottery Post.
After his big purchase, he went home and got ready for bed. He checked his tickets the following morning.
"I scanned the tickets using the Lottery app on the phone," the player recalled.
The memory had him smiling as he told Lottery officials the story of how he had realized he had won $50,000 on each of his ten tickets, bringing his total win to $500,000 in just one drawing.
Exchanging an unpleasant interaction on the road for $500,000 — not a bad deal.
He shared the news of his win with his mother, who was elated on his behalf. With the winnings, the technician plans on paying off bills and investing the rest.
For selling the ten $50,000 top prize-winning Pick 5 tickets, the retailer receives a $5,000 bonus from the Lottery.
The odds of winning the top prize in Pick 5 by matching all five winning numbers in exact order are 1 in 100,000. Drawings take place twice a day at 12:28 p.m. and 7:56 p.m. EST.
All winning numbers, prizes, and odds are published on Lottery Post's Maryland Lottery Results page right after each drawing.
One of the best ways to get a random number.
I know a couple of people who won by playing license plate #s happy for him
It happens often enough here in Md. but that guy must've really been
to remember the plate number and do all that.
Good thing he didn't lose, he would've been
.
I would like to have seen the number he played.
Strange that Maryland had two good winners on LP this week.
These games are RNG so the computer must've liked the winning combinations somehow.
wow really I did same thing I got someone plate number but to no avail nothing even tho the guy cut me off oh I also stop at a liqure store play them too
Maybe if you would have played 10 tickets @ $1 straight you would have won too, that's what he did.
We have plenty if crazy drivers here too so I might just try that.
I did play numbers I saw in dreams and won small amounts, but nothing big.
They were 3-6-4-8-9 in the Dec. 23 evening drawing. Updated the story!
Thanks Kate and best of luck next time you play