An amazed lotto fan has scooped a USD one million jackpot after decades of bad luck by playing her own birthday date for numbers.
The winner – who wanted to be known as ‘Lady Jackpot Chaser’ from the area of Silver Spring, Maryland State, USA – finally got her USD one million (GBP 790,950) win on 18th April.
The 61-year-old saleswoman said she used a combination of her birthday, a friend’s birthday and some random numbers for her USD 8 (GBP 6) Mega Millions ticket.
But after chasing a jackpot for her whole life, she said, she was poleaxed when she won it.
In a statement obtained by Newsflash from Maryland Lottery, she said: “I didn’t believe it. I didn’t know how to react.”
She added: “I always said that I would win the lottery one day.”
Despite her win, she vowed to keep playing for an even bigger jackpot.
This time she has her eyes set on the Mega Millions prize which is currently set at an estimated annuity of USD 368 million (GBP 291 million), with an estimated cash value of USD 193.4 million (GBP 152.9 million) for the drawing on Friday, 30th June.
She said: “Oh yes, I will keep playing.”
At lottery headquarters to collect her prize she told how she’ll use the money to pay off her home mortgage.
Maryland Lottery officials said: “Her lucky store, 7-Eleven #11572 in Silver Spring also gets in on the fun of her chase.
“The Montgomery County retailer located at 12405 Georgia Avenue received a USD 2,500 [GBP 1,976] bonus from the lottery for selling the second-tier winning ticket to ‘Lady Jackpot Chaser.'”
