One man’s mistake has turned into a huge reward.
Ron from Malaga, Ohio, was looking to purchase a Mega Millions ticket after recently being lucky enough to win $500 in several 50/50 drawings and the Super Bowl. His brother-in-law also piqued Ron’s interest by talking about playing lottery games.
He went to Walmart to buy a ticket and was shocked when he scanned the ticket and saw the $50,000 prize, but what surprised him even more was that he was actually playing Pick 5, not Mega Millions.
The Ohio Lottery revealed only the first name of Ron, who matched all five numbers in the Feb. 5 evening drawing. According to the lottery, the odds of matching all five numbers in a straight-up bet are one in 100,000.
The customer service told him: “That’s right, you won $50,000!”
Ohio man wins $50,000 after buying wrong ticket (Ohio Lottery)
Ron told the Ohio Lottery that his wife was shocked by the news of his win because she is usually the lucky winner. After taxes, Ron took home $36,625. He told the Ohio Lottery he planned to spoil his grandchildren and donate to his church.
Elsewhere in Ohio, a man who has been playing lottery tickets for 22 years won a $3.5 million Classic Lotto jackpot earlier this month.
The man, who chose to remain anonymous, won the Feb. 4 drawing and told lottery officials that despite two decades of mostly small wins, he continued to buy tickets because he was “stubborn,” according to the Ohio Lottery.
The anonymous Ohio Lottery winner who calls himself “Snowbird” says his best friend buys his Classic Lotto ticket (Ohio Lottery) with the same six numbers every time he goes out of town.
Even after becoming a snowbird and spending some time in warm weather each year, Winner never broke his routine. His monthly ticket budget is about $10, and when he’s out of town, he relies on his best friends to keep the streak going. If he can’t buy the tickets himself, his friends will buy them for him so that he doesn’t miss the chance to win the lottery. The winning ticket was sold at the MAPCO gas station #1929, formerly the Circle K, located at 997 Brown Street in Akron.
When the winning numbers were announced, the veteran player immediately recognized the combination – 6-8-16-20-26-45 – even though he didn’t have a ticket with him.
After memorizing numbers from his 22-year gambling career, he realized almost immediately that he had finally hit the jackpot. Overwhelmed, he shouted the news to his wife and celebrated by fulfilling a long-term commitment.
“We were going to get a really big swimming pool!” he recalled.
