Grandpa’s faithful lottery numbers failed him for decades — until now. ‘About time’
Despite the losses, a Maryland grandfather refused to give up on a faithful set of lottery numbers, which had never brought him a win — not even once.
Over his four decades of playing lottery games, the Anne Arundel County man, a U.S. Army veteran, has “developed sets of numbers to play,” Maryland Lottery officials said in a June 7 news release.
Among those was a set of “non-winning numbers,” which he used to buy a $6 Bonus Match 5 ticket after work on June 2, lottery officials said.
“The set of digits he played featured nine lines of numbers that had never before led to a prize,” lottery officials said.
The next day, the man checked his ticket using his phone while he sat at his desk at work.
Finally, his faithful numbers had brought him a win — the $50,000 top prize and “$15 in other prizes,” officials said.
“I jumped up for joy,” the man told lottery officials. “I could hardly stand to wait to tell my wife when I got home.”
His wife’s response?
“About time,” she told lottery officials. “He plays nearly every day.”
The man plans to pay bills with his winnings, officials said.
Anne Arundel County is about a 30-mile drive south from Baltimore.
This story was originally published June 10, 2024 at 2:45 PM with the headline "Grandpa’s faithful lottery numbers failed him for decades — until now. ‘About time’."
