Fort Meade Woman's $500,004 Win ls Largest In State's History

GAMBRILLS, MD — When a Fort Meade woman stopped at The Greene Turtle in Gambrills to use the restroom Monday, she made a split-second decision to play Keno before walking out the door. That may have been the best decision of her life.

After playing the 10-spot ticket and selecting the Super Bonus option, she headed home for the night. Once there, she checked mdlottery.com for the winning Keno numbers, never expecting to learn that she was a half-million dollars richer.

“I noticed that I matched nine numbers and started yelling to my husband who was in the other room,” said the Keno “Queen”, a title given to her by her husband. “Then, I saw that I actually had matched all 10 numbers and I really started screaming.”

The couple thought that they had won $100,000 before realizing that, thanks to the 5x multiplier, they had actually won $500,000 on that game. In addition, another game on the ticket won $4.

When pointing to her husband, the winner told Maryland Lottery officials, “I won the $500,000 and he gets the $4.”

Still in shock while at Lottery headquarters Tuesday, the winner said that she chose those numbers because they lined up in a row on the playslip. Eight of the numbers ended with the number eight, while the other two crossed over that line.

With their windfall, the duo said they plan on paying bills and saving for retirement. For selling the winning ticket, The Greene Turtle, located at 2383 Brandermill Blvd. will receive a $5,000 bonus.

Prior to this win, the largest Keno prize in Maryland was $300,000. That winning ticket was purchased on July 11, 2011 at Crabtowne USA in Glen Burnie.

»Photo from the Maryland Lottery