Man listens to friend’s lottery advice — and wins big in Maryland. Here’s his strategy

A 43-year-old man took his friend’s advice when it came to playing the lottery and ended up winning big, Maryland officials said.

The Prince George’s County lottery winner was told to “pick a card and stay consistent.” After doing just that, he landed himself the first prize of $50,000 with a scratch-off, according to an Aug. 1 news release by the Maryland Lottery.

The man consistently played the $5 Gold Bar Bingo scratch-off and “won small amounts here and there,” lotto officials said.

“I never thought I would win this much money,” the man, who likes the Gold Bar Bingo game because of its 1 in 3.83 chance of winning, told officials.

On July 31, the logistics operations manager was running errands in Bowie when he decided to check on his previous games, officials said.

He checked the four games and used the $20 winnings toward four more tickets, officials said.

Although the first scratch-off was a dud, and the next two only won $5 each, the fourth held the grand prize of $50,000, the release said.

The “stunned” player left the store to call his wife and tell her the news.

“I told her I hit, and she thought I was playing,” he told lottery officials. “I told her I wasn’t playing about this.”

He went back into the store and had the cashier scan the ticket again to confirm the win, officials said.

After past experience taught him “what not to do if you come into a large amount of money,” the player plans to put the winnings into savings — for now, the release said.

Bowie is about 30 miles southwest of Baltimore.

This story was originally published August 2, 2023 at 2:17 PM with the headline "Man listens to friend’s lottery advice — and wins big in Maryland. Here’s his strategy."