Prince George’s County Lottery Player Wins BigPrince George’s County Lottery Player Wins Big A Prince George’s County retiree has won $576,900 in the Bonus Match 5 lottery game. The lucky player, who purchased 25 tickets with the same number for the July 21 drawing, matched all five regular numbers on each ticket. Normally, the game has a top prize of $50,000, but the prize pool is capped at $600,000. In this case, the prize pool was split evenly, resulting in a $23,076 prize for each winning ticket. The Prince George’s County winner, who started playing Bonus Match 5 years ago, typically only buys a single combination for the game’s daily drawings. However, after a suggestion from a fellow player, she began purchasing multiple tickets with the same combination. Over the years, she has won smaller prizes at various levels, and eventually increased her winnings by purchasing additional tickets. For the July 21 drawing, she bought 25 tickets with her lucky combination. The 7-Eleven store where the winning tickets were purchased also received a bonus of $5,769. The Prince George’s County winner plans to use her winnings to pay off her house.
PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY, MD — A Prince George’s lottery player has won $576,900 playing the Bonus Match 5 game. The retiree bought the same number 25 times for the July 21 drawing.
The player, who is a Bonus Match 5 regular and rarely plays other lottery games, matched all five regular numbers on all 25 tickets and won $576,900. Normally, the game has a top prize of $50,000, but the size of the top prize pool is capped at $600,000. If more than 12 top prize winning tickets are sold, the prize pool will be split evenly among the winning tickets.
Subscribe
The Prince George’s County winner, who recently began the claim process, did not win the entire $600,000 prize pool because another player in Harford County happened to buy a ticket with the same lucky combination. Each of the 26 winning combinations sold is worth $23,076.
“I’ll be happy if my house is paid off,” said the Prince George’s County winner.
After 30 years of service, she retired from the federal government and spent years playing Bonus Match 5. The longtime player started out buying a single combination for the game’s daily drawings. One day, as she was buying her ticket, someone suggested she play the same combination multiple times to increase the prize if she won. It sounded like a good idea, and it was, until the 12th time that combination was sold, she told lottery officials.
Over the years, she’s won prizes at lower levels — the game has prizes of $2, $15, $30, $400 and $600 for matching combinations other than the first five balls drawn — and eventually increased those winnings by having multiple tickets. The number of times she plays a single combination varies. Often it was 24 times, but for the July 21 drawing, she bought 25, she told lottery officials.
The 7-Eleven at 8200 Martin Luther King Jr. Highway in Glenarden is also getting in on the winnings. The Prince George’s County store is getting a $5,769 bonus, equal to 1 percent of the winnings for each of its 25 tickets.
