Maryland woman wins two $50,000 lottery jackpots 26 years apart

Nov. 21 (UPI) -- A Maryland woman collected her second top prize jackpot from a Bonus Match 5 lottery drawing 26 years after her first brush with luck.

The 76-year-old Waldorf woman told Maryland Lottery officials she plays lottery games about once every two weeks, and she bought her winning ticket for the Nov. 9 Bonus Match 5 drawing at Westlake Liquors in Waldorf.

The woman said she used a series of birthdays and other important dates to play nine boards and ended up winning $50,015.

"I couldn't believe it," the winner recalled of seeing her numbers printed in the newspaper. "I checked it 15 times before believing it."

The woman said she previously won a $50,000 Bonus Match 5 jackpot in 1993.

The winner said most of the money will go toward paying her bills, but she might put some toward a trip to Paris.