Lottery player used same 3 lines of birthday numbers for 20 years. It finally paid off

For 20 years, a Maryland lottery player used the same birthday numbers, and it had never paid off big.

This time it did, lottery officials say.

The Anne Arundel County man just won a $50,000 top prize off a Bonus Match 5 ticket in an Aug. 3 drawing, according to a news release from Maryland Lottery.

The former firefighter’s dedication to the numbers had yielded little success over the years, he told officials. He played the same three lines of numbers corresponding to combinations of family members’ birthdays, according to the news release, but he had only ever matched four of the five drawn numbers and Bonus Ball.

When he recently opened the lottery app, however, he discovered he’d finally won. He then watched the drawing the next day just to be certain, lottery officials said.

That’s when he confirmed his family had some serious birthday luck.

“I was in shock,” the 61-year-old from Pasadena, Maryland, told officials. “I didn’t want to say anything to my daughter because she had to go to work the next day, but it was hard to keep it a secret.”

He said he plans to use the money to pay off his mortgage, and the rest will go toward home improvement projects, according to the news release.

His success isn’t going to change his strategy at all, he told lottery officials.

“I am going to continue to play,” he said in the news release. “I am waiting for the other lines to come out.”

Many Maryland lottery winners are allowed to remain anonymous and identify themselves by an alias when telling their story. This man gave officials the nickname, “Happy Birthdays!”

Pasadena, Maryland, is about 20 miles south of Baltimore.

This story was originally published August 14, 2023 at 12:22 PM with the headline "Lottery player used same 3 lines of birthday numbers for 20 years. It finally paid off."