Man Buys Wrong Lotto Ticket, Wins $1 Million

UPPER MARLBORO, MD — A mistakenly bought ticket ended up being a big winner for one Prince George's County man.

The man routinely buys tickets for the week every Monday, but decided instead to stop at the store on a Sunday. He wanted to buy the $30 200X the Cash ticket, one that had proven lucky for him recently.

“It wasn’t even the ticket I wanted,” the Upper Marlboro resident told Maryland Lottery officials. “They were out of them, so I went with the $20 100X the Cash version.”

So he bought two of the other tickets and the discovered the first one wasn't lucky. The second one, however, had him in shock.

“When I saw the $1 million, I thought there’s no way this can be right,” he said.

So the Upper Marlboro man returned to the store, forcing himself not to hurry. Playing it cool, he headed directly for the lottery ticket scanner.

“I saw a bunch of zeroes so I had to count them carefully. I was so excited I kept losing track. It took me three times, but then I was pretty sure it was true," he said.

Then he asked the store clerk to check the ticket, too. Both of them high fived each other.

This winner found his luck at the 301 Travel Plaza at 3511 Crain Highway in Upper Marlboro. The store will receive a $1,000 bonus for selling the $1 million top-prize-winning ticket.