Lottery player uses late mom's birthday as numbers — and wins big. ‘Unbelievable'
A Maryland woman won a top lottery prize using a number combination from her late mother's birthday, lottery officials said.
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A Maryland lottery player won a top prize with a number combination from her late mother's birthday, lottery officials said.
'I've been thinking about my mom recently, more so than I usually do,' the Frederick County woman told the Maryland Lottery, according to a May 6 news release. '... It gave me the idea to use some numbers from her birthday.'
With those numbers, the lucky player won a top prize worth $50,000 in the April 29 Pick 5 drawing, lottery officials said.
'It really was unbelievable. I went from joy to doubt and back again,' the woman told the lottery.
She said she's been using the number combination for the past few weeks on lottery games, and this win marks her biggest to date, according to lottery officials.
The woman said her win wasn't because of luck or random chance, but because of her mother that she won, the lottery said.
The winning ticket was purchased from a gas station in Damascus, about a 40-mile drive southwest from Baltimore, lottery officials said.
The odds of matching all five digits in the exact order of the winning numbers in Pick 5 are 1 in 100,000, according to the game's web page.
Many people can gamble or play games of chance without harm. However, for some, gambling is an addiction that can ruin lives and families.
If you or a loved one shows signs of gambling addiction, you can seek help by calling the national gambling hotline at 1-800-522-4700 or visiting the National Council on Problem Gambling website.
Natalie Demaree
mcclatchy-newsroom Go to X Email this person 479-616-0125
Natalie Demaree is a national real time reporter covering religion and the Southeast region for McClatchy Media. She holds a master's in journalism from Columbia Journalism School and a bachelor's in journalism and political science with a specialization in African and African American Studies from the University of Arkansas.
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