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A Baltimore County man who called an audible to appease his wife is feeling lucky after finally claiming a $1,045,588 FAST PLAY Extreme Green progressive jackpot prize after swapping out a $30 ticket in exchange a $20 ticket that was sold at Squires Restaurant on Holabird Avenue in Dundalk.
“At first when I got it, I went crazy,” the winner, going by the monicker “Extreme Green Dream," told Lottery officials, unable to hide his excitement from his friends; however, that win almost never came to pass.
According to the winner's wife, the big winner was pondering picking up a $30 FAST PLAY ticket, but thought his wife might get annoyed at spending so much on a ticket, so he scaled back and opted for the $20 Extreme Green ticket.
Good move.
After the ticket printed, “I looked at it and my eyes rolled back in my head!” the winner said, noting that his previous big win was a $1,500 score on a Keno ticket.
The Dundalk man's Lottery story only got more curious from there.
Lottery officials said that a woman working at Squire's gave the man sound advice to sign the winning ticket, then he called his wife to let her know about the unexpected windfall.
Then things got a little more dicey.
The wife mused that when the man returned home, he temporarily lost track of the golden ticket.
"When he came home he couldn't find the ticket," she told officials, until eventually realizing he left it in his wallet on the center console of his car.
All's well that ends well.
The winner said that there are no immediate lifestyle changes in mind, as the family is already happily in retirement, and he only works to have something to do during the day, which he doesn't plan to stop.
"Extreme Green Dream" added that he also plans to keep taking his shot at hunting another Lottery jackpot, "because he enjoys the thrill of it."
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