Lottery player uses ZIP code of recently bought NC property — then does ‘double take’

A lottery player used the ZIP code from a North Carolina property he just bought, and it helped land him a big win, Maryland officials said.

The Baltimore man bought a property in North Carolina and used the ZIP code numbers, 28001, for his Pick 5 Game, according to a Nov. 4 news release by the Maryland Lottery.

The man was out buying tickets for a new day when he learned his ticket had won $50,000 during the Oct. 22 drawing, officials said.

“I always look at the screen and I saw the Pick 3 and Pick 4, but I wasn’t paying attention when Pick 5 was on,” he told officials. “Then I looked again — did a double take. I couldn’t believe it.”

As for what he plans to do with the money?

The man wants “the money to work for” him, so he will use it to make renovations on his new property, officials said.

“It’s got some fix ups, then I’m going to rent it out,” he said in the release.

The property is in Albemarle, according to the numbers he disclosed. That’s about a 40-mile drive east from Charlotte.

This story was originally published November 5, 2024 at 9:55 AM with the headline "Lottery player uses ZIP code of recently bought NC property — then does ‘double take’."