Retiree wins big lottery prize — but waits to tell husband the news until his birthday
A Maryland woman said she has stuck to the same lottery strategy for the past couple of years and it finally paid off.
The retired grandmother from Anne Arundel County prefers to buy a Quick Pick ticket, then rearrange those numbers and use them on a $1 straight ticket, according to a Nov. 27 news release from Maryland lottery officials.
While grocery shopping at a Giant in Odenton, the woman bought a Pick 5 Quick Pick ticket and rearranged the numbers from that ticket to play 82524 straight for two drawings, according to lottery officials.
Before going to bed, she checked the winning numbers from that night’s drawing and confirmed her numbers matched in the same order, lottery officials said.
She told lottery officials she compared the numbers “three or four times.”
“I scanned my Quick Pick ticket first,” which was a $400 winner, the woman told lottery officials.
Knowing the prize on the straight ticket would be worth more, she scanned it to reveal a $50,000 win, according to the lottery.
“It was very exciting, all of the confetti and congratulations message,” she said.
The woman’s husband went with her to claim the prize and told lottery officials his wife hid the good news from him initially.
“She actually hid it from me until the night before my birthday,” the husband said. “She was talking about all of these home improvements she wanted to make and then she showed me the winning message on her phone.”
The winner said she plans to use her prize “to make those home improvements and will use some for holiday shopping,” according to the lottery.
Odenton is about a 20-mile drive south from Baltimore.
This story was originally published November 27, 2024 at 5:17 PM with the headline "Retiree wins big lottery prize — but waits to tell husband the news until his birthday."
