A man in Baltimore has turned a licence plate number into a USD-25,000 lottery win.
Michael Jones posed for lottery officials while holding his USD 25,000 (GBP 22.300) giant check.
Jones, an electrician by trade, used a random licence plate number he had memorised and won the Pick 5 lottery prize by playing ‘84824’ in Baltimore, in the US state of Maryland, in the 8th October evening draw.
The 52-year-old was at home watching sports on TV when he discovered he had won. The Maryland State Lottery said: “He was checking his Pick 5 tickets from the Oct. 8 evening drawing when a 50-cent ticket delivered a shocking surprise.”
Jones said: “When I saw that my numbers hit, I had to look at it two to three times just to make sure.”
The state lottery said: “According to the lucky winner, he plays the Pick 4 and Pick 5 games twice a day and plays more than 200 number combinations.
“Michael explained that he places bets using license tag numbers from friends, family and co-workers, too. He even used the license tag number of a person that hit his car in an auto accident. The electrician plays so many different tag numbers that he can’t recall where he picked out the winning numbers 84824.”
Jones said: “I know it was someone’s tag number, but I can’t remember whose tag number. I might have shared some of the money with them if I could remember who it was.”
The state lottery said that Jones plans to pay off some of his bills and share the money with his wife and two adult children.
The state lottery added: “Michael bought his winning ticket at US Fuel located at 6100 Moravia Park Drive in Baltimore. For selling the lucky ticket, the Baltimore City gas station and food market will receive a USD 250 bonus from the Lottery.”
