A Fort Washington security guard who could not stop noticing the same numbers on license plates just turned that quirky habit into a $100,000 Maryland Lottery payday.
Right before Christmas, he bought two Pick 5 tickets using the digits he kept seeing. Both were $1 straight bets, and both hit for the full $50,000 top prize, giving him a combined $100,000. He has since claimed the prize and told lottery officials he plans to use the cash to pay off medical bills and buy a used car.
The lucky tickets were purchased on Dec. 20 at Royal Food Mart, 12500 Livingston Road in Fort Washington. That store is listed as the seller of two $50,000-winning Pick 5 tickets for that date in the weekly winners roundup, confirming it as the point of purchase, according to Maryland Lottery.
How the numbers lined up
The winning Pick 5 combination for the Dec. 20 drawing was 25121, and the Fort Washington player had that exact sequence on both of his tickets, scoring the top prize twice. That winning number appears on Pick 5 result calendars for Dec. 20, corroborating the combination, as reported by Lottery Post.
Winner’s story and plans
The winner, who works as a security guard, told The BayNet he picked up the tickets while out doing holiday shopping, then tucked them away and did not bother to check until early January.
An injury kept him from claiming the prize right away, but he eventually made it to Maryland Lottery headquarters to collect his winnings on March 6. He said he was inspired to play 25121 after repeatedly spotting those digits on license plates. “If you see a number three or four times, play it,” he advised.
Along with that bit of street-level lottery philosophy, he shared that his new six-figure haul will go toward medical bills and a used car, keeping his plans practical rather than flashy.
Retailer bonus and claiming process
The Maryland Lottery pays retailers a bonus for selling top-prize winning tickets. For many draw games, that bonus is $500 for a $50,000 top prize, so two such tickets would amount to roughly $1,000 for Royal Food Mart.
Players who win more than $25,000 must claim their prize in person at the Lottery’s Customer Resource Center in Baltimore, by appointment. That is where the paperwork is completed and tax withholdings are handled, according to Maryland Lottery.
Using license plate digits as lottery picks is a time-tested move in Maryland and far beyond. Both the state lottery and national outlets have profiled players who say tag numbers or even odometer readings guided their choices; a recent example was highlighted by UPI.
