Lottery player kept picking her license plate numbers. It finally paid off in Maryland
A woman trusted her license plate numbers would prove lucky one day while playing the lottery in Maryland.
Markietta Robertson, of Upper Marlboro, was right.
Robertson has continuously played her license plate numbers in the state’s Pick 5 game since it began in the state, according to a Jan. 24 Maryland Lottery news release.
She’s repeatedly told her husband, James, that she’d score a Pick 5 prize on a straight bet — and she finally did with a $1 bet this month.
Robertson’s unwavering faith in her license plate numbers turned that dollar into $50,000, lottery officials announced. She won the game’s top prize with the numbers 6, 9, 2, 4 and 5.
“I was home when I checked my tickets and I just hollered when I saw I hit,” Markietta told officials. “I double-checked using the Lottery app and then I jumped into my husband’s arms.”
When Robertson went to confirm her win at Marlton Liquors in Upper Marlboro, where she bought the winning ticket, employees asked her if she also placed a Pick 5 box bet.
She realized she did — and that she had tossed the ticket in the trash, she said to officials.
“I told her she should have won on box, too,” her husband James told lottery officials. “Would you believe she threw the ticket away?”
Her lucky streak continued though, as Robertson was able to find the ticket in the garbage. Then, she saw she won an additional $400 prize on a 50-cent box bet, according to Maryland Lottery.
“I just wasn’t thinking,” Robertson told officials with a huge grin. “I went home and got that ticket out the trash.”
Robertson, who’s a mother of three children, claimed her $50,000 prize this week and plans to use some of the money for bills and will save the rest, according to Maryland Lottery.
She took home $33,625 after taxes, Seth Elkin, the communications director for Maryland Lottery and Gaming, told McClatchy News on Jan. 24.
Maryland Lottery is required to withhold federal and state taxes for prizes larger than $5,000, Elkin said.
Upper Marlboro is about 35 miles southwest of Baltimore.
This story was originally published January 24, 2024 at 4:08 PM with the headline "Lottery player kept picking her license plate numbers. It finally paid off in Maryland."
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