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A veteran Maryland Lottery player is thanking Lady Luck after a clerk at one of his favorite lotto retailers accidentally gave him a ticket for the wrong game, then couldn't void it, forcing the Prince George's County man to play it.
Instead of his "Cash4Life" ticket, the Upper Marlboro resident was gracious enough to except a "Multi-Match" ticket, and he sure is happy he didn't make a fuss.
What turned out to be a $10 innocent mistake led to a $580,000 jackpot for the Monday, Sept. 11 "Multi-Match" drawing, leaving the Lottery player's jaw flat on the floor.
The happy husband and father said he's read a lot of the fabled tales of Maryland Lottery winners but couldn't believe "this is the biggest prize of (his) life," in an instance that his wife described as "divine intervention."
“I gave him the money and said, ‘I want to buy five Cash4Life tickets,’” at the Campus Way Exxon in Upper Marlboro, the winner mused. “The attendant made a mistake and gave me a Multi-Match ticket instead. I was like, ‘Oh, a new guy.’ He was so apologetic.”
No apologies necessary, as it turns out, though he may have had some for his wife, who thought he was trying to prank her.
She wasn't convinced until her husband took a picture when he went back to the retailer and confirmed the six-figure jackpot.
The couple has big plans for the $580,000.
They plan to pay off a college loan for one of their children, catch up on some bills, and start a new family-run healthcare business, where his wife hopes to focus on helping geriatric patients.
“If anyone deserves this, it is him,” the wife said. “He is a hard-working man, a good husband and a good father.”
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