A couple who share their lottery ticket duties have won a USD 100,000 jackpot after the husband had to take over the whole operation.
The pair, who hail from Bowie, Maryland State, USA, normally split their duties with the husband picking the numbers and his wife buying the tickets.
But when the wife had to work late, her partner took over and clocked up two amazing wins, operators revealed.
The lucky couple, who chose to remain anonymous, were amazed when two of the tickets the husband had picked turned out to be USD 50,000 (GBP 41,225) winners, meaning their combined win was USD 100,000 (GBP 82,450).
The couple, who called themselves the “Wings of Joy” won the prize for the 25th November, Black Friday drawing, but the win was only revealed by the Maryland State Lottery on Thursday, 15th December.
The Maryland State Lottery said in a statement: “A set of lucky numbers and a pair of Pick 5 tickets turned Black Friday brighter for a Prince George’s County couple. The winners, who nicknamed themselves ‘Wings of Joy’ for Lottery publicity, said that combination culminated in two USD 50,000-winning tickets for the 25th November drawing.
“The anonymous winner and his wife often divide their efforts when playing Lottery games. He supplies a special combination of winning numbers and she buys the tickets. They played Pick 5 like this until Black Friday, when the wife had to work and left the husband to handle both Pick 5 duties.”
The lottery officials explained: “The husband headed out to buy tickets, stopping first at his bank ATM to get cash. Strangely enough, the bank machine dispensed his cash entirely in USD 5 [GBP 4.12] bills. Feeling the strangeness of the day and going with it, the lucky man decided that he would purchase two tickets instead of the normal single ticket.
“He visited Bowie Liquors in Prince George’s County and bought two USD 1 straight bet tickets with the numbers 30639 for the midday and evening drawings. ‘Wings of Joy’ discovered the midday USD 100,000 win shortly after returning home. He texted an urgent message to his wife to call him at home. When she did, the happy husband asked her to read back the midday Pick 3/4/5 Lottery numbers. At the moment she read off the Pick 5 number, he let loose with an exuberant shout.”
The husband said: “I yelled back, I got it twice!”
The Maryland State Lottery added: “‘Wings of Joy’ plan to use their USD 100,000 prize to benefit others. They plan to donate to churches and charities to share their joy.
“Their lucky Lottery retailer is also celebrating. For selling a pair of USD 50,000-winning Pick 5 tickets, Bowie Liquors located at 6910 Laurel Bowie Road in Bowie will receive two USD 500 [GBP 412] bonuses from the Lottery.”
