WALDORF — A Waldorf Army veteran turned one winning combination into $150,405 by doing what he always does: playing the same Bonus Match 5 numbers more than once.
The man claimed his prize Oct. 28 at Maryland Lottery headquarters in Baltimore, according to a Maryland Lottery announcement. It was his biggest win ever. The Lottery did not release his name, which Maryland allows winners to keep private.
He bought his tickets at the Dash In convenience store at 2007 Smallwood Drive in Waldorf. The store earns a $500 bonus from the Lottery for each of the three top-prize wins it sold, $1,500 in all.
How duplicate numbers paid off
Bonus Match 5 discounts players who buy more than one combination. A single combination costs $1, three cost $2, four cost $3, six cost $4, seven cost $5 and nine cost $6.
The winner spent $6 on nine combinations. Some were unique, but one of his favorite combinations appeared on the ticket three times. When it matched all five numbers, each copy won the $50,000 top prize. Smaller prizes on his other combinations pushed the total to $150,405, according to the Lottery.
He told Lottery officials he plays from a list of numbers he feels very good about, and he trusts them enough to buy two or more of every combination.
“I know the odds say otherwise, but this list has not let me down,” he said.
Those odds are long. Players pick five numbers from 1 to 39, and the chance of matching all five on any single combination is 1 in 575,757, according to the game’s published prize table. Duplicating a combination does not improve the odds of hitting it, but it multiplies the payout when it does. Drawings are held every night.
A lucky fall in Charles
Charles County players have had a string of repeat-number wins this fall. In October, a Waldorf man who had played for four decades hit a $50,000 Pick 5 prize, and in September a White Plains woman won $150,000 on numbers she had played for 20 years.
Anyone worried about their own or a loved one’s gambling can reach the Maryland Center of Excellence on Problem Gambling’s helpline at 1-800-GAMBLER, which is free and confidential.
