A man who agreed to buy a lottery ticket for a busy colleague has landed his own win after buying a second one for himself using his pal’s lucky numbers.

The unnamed construction worker – nicknamed ‘Basketball Man’ – who was too busy to get out and told how he had asked a friend to pick up a USD 1 ticket (GBP 0.82) for him in Bryantown in Charles County, USA.

Maryland Lottery said in a statement obtained by Newsflash: “The construction worker plays the lucky number 12355, which is the birthday of a relative. “Basketball Man” plays that number every day but on Nov. 18, he couldn’t make it to a Lottery retailer in time to buy his ticket for the midday drawing.

“A helpful co-worker visited the Bryantown Store in Bryantown and purchased “Basketball Man’s” $1 straight bet ticket.

“The co-worker then tried his own luck with a 50-cent straight bet ticket using the same number. Both were big winners!”

But as a result, when the numbers came up, they both ended up winning, with ‘Basketball Man’ netting USD 50,000 (GBP 41,200) and his pal getting USD 25,000 (GBP 20,600).

‘Basketball Man’ told lottery officials: “My buddy was happy that I sent him out for the ticket.”