MIDDLE RIVER, MD—Answering a store clerk’s question with “Sure!” made a $50,000 difference for Pick 5 player Richard Ches of Baltimore on Sunday.
Richard said he usually tries his luck in evening Pick 5 drawings. He and his wife Deb, also an avid Maryland Lottery player, combine family members’ birthday years and dates for the five numbers they play on their tickets.
On Sunday, they stopped at one of Richard’s favorite Maryland Lottery retailers, Carroll Food Mart located at 1 Carroll Island Road in Middle River. Richard has played the number 21564 for about a month and asked the clerk for a ticket with that combination.
“The guy said, ‘Do you want the day and evening drawings?’ and I said, ‘Sure!’” Richard told officials. After the midday drawing on Sunday, Deb pulled out her phone to check the winning numbers, but her husband didn’t say a word as she read aloud his lucky combination as the winning digits.
Later that day, they visited Hollywood Casino in Perryville, and her husband wandered away and then returned to her side with the ticket in hand and his earth-shaking news.
“He said, ‘Deb, we won the Lottery!’” she recalled. His quiet statement put a stop to her slot machine play and ignited Deb into action. She pulled out her phone, he held up the ticket and they rechecked the numbers for the $50,000 prize. “A slots attendant came around and I said we should ask her if we’re seeing things,” Deb said. The employee looked at the ticket and the winning numbers on Deb’s phone and confirmed their big win.
The happy pair shared their great news with their adult son and plan to use the prize to pay off their home mortgage.
