‘This can’t be right.’ Man buys last-minute lottery ticket and wins big in Maryland

A man’s last-minute decision to buy a lottery ticket while at a convenience store landed him a huge prize in Maryland, officials said.

The loyal lottery player usually has a rule that he won’t spend more than $5 on a ticket, according to a May 14 news release by the Maryland Lottery. His decision to break his “price-point policy” landed him $250,000.

The security specialist was in a Sheetz in Frederick for a drink and a snack when he saw the game, officials said.

“I saw the vending machine and for some reason my eyes went straight to the Jumbo Cash game,” the lucky man told officials.

This scratch-off was $10, and the man almost walked out without one, officials said.

“I was about to leave when I thought to myself, ‘Why not?’” he said in the release.

The man realized he’d landed the huge win while in his car but thought there was a mistake, officials said.

“The first thing I said — and I said it out loud to myself — was, ‘This can’t be right,” he told lottery officials.

The man’s daughter had the lottery app on her phone so he drove straight to her house to confirm the win, officials said.

“We were in shock. Absolute, complete shock,” the winner told officials. The man’s wife still refuses to believe the reality.

The man and his wife plan to put the money toward paying off debt and preparing for retirement, officials said.

The winner plans to reinstate his price policy “except, you know, when ‘something’ tells” him not to.

Frederick is about a 50-mile drive northwest of Baltimore.

This story was originally published May 16, 2024 at 1:22 PM with the headline "‘This can’t be right.’ Man buys last-minute lottery ticket and wins big in Maryland."