WARD A LUCKY GUY: Hospital Worker Scoops USD 200,000 After Playing Same Lotto Numbers For Years

A hospital worker has won an amazing USD 200,000 after playing the same lottery numbers for years.

Arnold Foster poses with his USD 200,000 combined prize check, undated. Playing the same number for years on the Pick 5 tickets he won on Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022. (Maryland Lottery/Newsflash)

Arnold Foster, 38 – from the US capital Washington, D.C. – told lottery officials that the numbers were “an important family birthday” and that he had been playing them for a long time before winning the USD 200,000 (GBP 164,670) prize.

Newsflash obtained a statement from the Maryland State Lottery on Wednesday, 30th November, saying that Foster had won a combined USD 200,000 by using the same numbers on five tickets he bought.

The statement said: “Arnold Foster of Washington, D.C. has played the same five-digit combination for years, often on multiple tickets, with the DC Lottery without success.

“His luck changed last week, he told Maryland Lottery officials, when Maryland’s newest daily game rewarded his persistence.

“Arnold’s five Pick 5 tickets for the 23rd November evening drawing redeemed for USD 200,000.”

Foster said: “It’s an important family birthday, that’s what I use [them].”

Picture shows the Peoples Convenience Store at 4025 Silver Hill Road in Suitland, Maryland, USA, undated. Arnold Foster bought his winning Pick 5 tickets here. (Google Maps/Newsflash)

The lucky winner, whose mother told him he might have won, added: “I had a good feeling about it so I just stuck with them.”

Foster said: “I was working out and didn’t see the drawing.”

He added: “My mom knows the combination I play, so when she saw the results, she called to make sure I’d bought a ticket that day.”

The Maryland State Lottery said: “It turns out that Arnold hadn’t bought just one Pick 5 ticket, he’d bought five – three USD 1 straight tickets and two 50-cent straight tickets, all with the lucky 40710 combination.”

They added: “Was Arnold’s immediate response to the $200,000 win one of joy or shock? Nope.”

Foster said: “I thought to myself, ‘It’s about time.”

He added: “Remember, though, I’ve been playing those numbers twice a day, every day for five years!”

The lottery official said: “The winner said his Pick 5 winnings will go toward two priorities in his life: a down payment on a house for his family and a fund for his child’s education.”

Foster said: “This is going to help make things better for us now and in the future. That’s one heck of a blessing.”

The statement said: “Also celebrating is the management at People’s Convenience Store at 4025 Silver Hill Road in Suitland. The Lottery retailer will receive a USD 2,000 [GBP 1,646.50] bonus from the Lottery for selling the five winning Pick 5 tickets.”