Grandpa To Build Playset For Grandkids With $61K Win from Lotto Ticket

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD — A grandpa plans to build a playset for his grandkids after winning $61,155.30 with a Racetrax ticket.

The Prince George's man told Maryland Lottery officials that he didn't usually play that game. He credited the win to "beginner's luck." He ended up picking long odds horses 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the ones with the best payoffs) to finish in the first four spots. The bet: a superfecta box for 10 cents, which is actually a 10 cent bet for each of the selected horses to finish in all of the first four places. But the odds on those horses are so long that the payoffs on a win are high, even on a 10-cent bet. The horses in this case finished 9, 12, 10 and 11. Since he placed a 10-cent bet, his prize netted out to $61,155.30, Maryland Lottery officials explained.

“I never dreamed I’d be that one,” he said.

When he got home and told his wife he'd won big, she didn't believe him at first. But then he showed her the ticket and, he said, “She gave me a big old hug.”

The 7-Eleven store where he bought the ticket receives a bonus of $611.55.