An Annapolis man who rarely plays the lottery decided to take a shot at a large Powerball jackpot with a single quick-pick ticket — and while he missed the top prize by one number, he still walked away $50,000 richer.
The player, who is nearly 50 and works as a repairman in the oil and gas industry, bought both a Powerball quick-pick ticket and a Mega Millions ticket during one stop at the Wawa at 321 Busch’s Frontage Road in Annapolis, according to the Maryland Lottery. He checked the results later that day on the Maryland Lottery’s website and initially thought he’d come up just short of the jackpot. Looking more closely at his numbers, he noticed something. “There’s some numbers matching up here,” he recalled saying. After working through the prize structure, he realized his combination had landed him a third-tier prize worth $50,000.
He texted the news to his wife, who was out at a nearby grocery store at the time. “I think I won,” he wrote. “Are you sure?” she replied. The couple confirmed the win together once she got home. He claimed his prize Sept. 11 at Maryland Lottery headquarters in Baltimore.
Outside of the win, the player described an adventurous life built around scuba diving, with trips along the U.S. Pacific coast and in Thailand. He said those travel days are largely behind him now as he looks toward settling down and eventually retiring. As for the $50,000, he’s in no rush to decide what to do with it. “I’ll buy a Coke and call it a day,” he joked, brushing off his wife’s suggestion that he treat himself. “I like to stew on it before making any decisions,” he said.
