BERLIN – Two lucky local men won a second-tier $250,000 Mega Millions prize from Friday night’s drawing.
The pair, who wish to remain anonymous and happen to be good friends, told Maryland Lottery officials that they’ve been playing the same numbers for quite a few years now and they were happy that their ‘ship finally came in.’
The elder of the pair, who is a retired-73-year-old-ocean-seaman, said he happened to be up at 1 a.m. and figured he’d check the Lottery’s website to see if he had won.
“I rubbed my eyes, after taking my glasses off, of course, to see if I was imagining things,” he said. “I must have checked and double checked the numbers. When I was finally convinced, I called my buddy to tell him we had won.”
The 51-year-old co-winner, said he was just getting ready to go to bed when he got the call.
“I thought he was playing a joke on me,” said the man who rents properties for a living. “I told my wife and she thought I was playing a joke on her.”
The lucky winners said that after splitting the prize money 50/50, they would both save most of it. The winning numbers were 8-14-22-39-50 and bonus ball 24.
The winning ticket was purchased at Your Store on Old Ocean City Boulevard in Berlin.