NOTTINGHAM, MD—A Baltimore County resident is $50,000 richer after scooping a third-tier Powerball prize in the December 16 drawing. The lucky winner, a retired laborer from Parkville, plays the same numbers for every Powerball and Mega Millions drawing. He randomly chose five rows of numbers and played them daily. His persistence paid off this week when he matched four of the five winning numbers and the Powerball, narrowly missing the $55 million jackpot.

The Parkville man says his numbers lack any pattern or significance. After the drawing, he checked his ticket’s five lines against the winning Powerball numbers on his phone. As he compared his ticket to his phone, he found a match with four of the five winning numbers and the Powerball.

“I couldn’t sleep. I was up all night,” the excited winner shared with the Maryland Lottery. He plans to use the prize money for bill payments and to buy additional holiday gifts for his family.

The winner purchased his ticket at Perry Hall BP, located at 8809 Belair Road in Nottingham (21236). He also received a free $2 Mega Millions ticket with his purchase as part of the Lottery’s Jackpot Reset promotion. Although he didn’t win the Mega Millions jackpot, he remains optimistic and plans to try his luck again for Friday’s drawing, which boasts an estimated jackpot annuity of $825 million.

This article was written with the assistance of AI and reviewed by a human editor.