Lottery player cut back from playing games twice a day in Maryland. Then she won big

A woman who decided to cut back on her lottery playing ended up lucky after buying a ticket in Maryland, officials said.

The Prince George woman had been playing the Pick 5 game twice a day before she and her husband decided to “cut back to playing the game weekly,” according to a Feb. 29 news release by the Maryland Lottery.

“Once in a while we play,” the retired medical worker told officials. “We have slacked off a bit.”

Little did she know the $1 ticket she bought at 7-Eleven in Suitland was carrying a $50,000 prize during the Feb. 25 drawing, officials said.

The woman used a combination of birthdays, parts of social security numbers and wedding anniversaries to create the five-digit sequence, officials said.

“I was happy, very happy,” the lucky winner said in the release. “I couldn’t believe I had won.”

The woman plans to buy a new car with the money, officials said.

The 7-Eleven will receive a $500 bonus for selling the winning ticket, lottery officials said.

Suitland is about 50 miles southwest of Baltimore.

This story was originally published March 1, 2024 at 5:22 PM with the headline "Lottery player cut back from playing games twice a day in Maryland. Then she won big."