Man finally hits jackpot after 50 years of lottery games in Maryland. ‘Is this real?’

A Baltimore man who has loyally played the lottery for more than 50 years finally landed a jackpot, Maryland Lottery officials reported.

The man, who chose to remain anonymous, bought his usual two $5 Money Money Money scratch-off tickets at Billiards Plus, the lottery said in a Monday, Jan. 27, news release.

“The first ticket read ‘Non-winner,’ and then I scratched the second one,” he told lottery officials. “When it read ‘Winner, $50,000,’ my first reaction was, ‘Is this real?’”

He confirmed the big win with a Billiards Plus employee and rushed home to share the news with his daughters, officials said.

But he’s kept his big win under wraps since then, lottery officials said.

He plans to spend his winnings on medical bills and his daughters, officials said.

Billiards Plus will receive a $500 prize for selling the winning ticket, the lottery said.

This story was originally published January 27, 2025 at 3:37 PM with the headline "Man finally hits jackpot after 50 years of lottery games in Maryland. ‘Is this real?’."