Uncle's lottery luck inspires Maryland man's $50,000 prize

Aug. 23 (UPI) -- A Maryland man said he was inspired by his uncle's $1 million lottery jackpot from the 1980s to buy the ticket that earned him $50,000 decades later.

The Anne Arundel County man told Maryland Lottery officials his uncle won a $1 million prize from the Maryland Lotto drawing in the 1980s.

The man visited 24-7 Tobacco & Grocery on Mayo Road in Edgewater and decided to use his uncle's numbers to play Powerball, Mega Millions and Multi-Match, the game that replaced Maryland Lotto in 2006.

"My uncle played the same numbers every week until he won," the player said.

The uncle's numbers did not hit in any of the drawings, but a quick pick line the man purchased on the same Powerball ticket ended up winning $50,000 in the Aug. 7 drawing.

"I saw that I won $50,000 on the screen. It was the first thing that popped up," he said.

The man said he has not yet decided how he will spend his prize money.