22-year-old plays lottery for first time — and wins prize much bigger than he imagined

A 22-year-old first-time lottery player who said he didn’t know what he was doing won big in Maryland, officials said.

The bartender was out with a friend in Parkton “watching the virtual horseraces taking place on the Lottery monitors above the bar” and decided to ask how the game worked, according to an Aug. 17 news release by the Maryland Lottery.

He placed a bet himself and ended up winning $40,044, officials said.

“I picked three horses for a trifecta box randomly,” the winner told officials. “I also played the bonus. I’m pretty sure I didn’t know what I was doing because when I looked up and saw the odds, I figured I didn’t have a very good chance of winning.”

His picks were trailing behind before they pulled ahead, officials said. The odds were 1 in 5,000.

The excited winner scanned the ticket on his mobile lottery app and “was surprised,” the release said.

“I thought I had won something like $800, but the prize flashing back on the screen was a $40,044 prize,” the recent graduate told officials.

The winner plans to use the money to pay off student loans, the release said.

Parkton is 30 miles north of Baltimore.

This story was originally published August 17, 2023 at 1:17 PM with the headline "22-year-old plays lottery for first time — and wins prize much bigger than he imagined."