Lottery winner thought he won a few hundred dollars in Maryland. It was much more

A 53-year-old information technology worker thought he only won a “few hundred dollars” in the Maryland lottery — but he was missing some numbers.

The Columbia, Maryland, man actually won tens of thousands, lottery officials said in a news release.

“I must have looked at it wrong,” he said in the release. “I thought I had two to three numbers.”

A lottery retailer broke the good news to him that his quick-pick ticket in an Aug. 26 drawing was worth $50,000, officials said.

The winning numbers for that drawing were 20, 22, 26, 28, and 63, and the Powerball number was five. He had matched four of those numbers and the Powerball — good for a third-tier prize, officials said.

The regular player said he’d put his prize winnings into a savings account, officials said. And he attributes his win to his “positive outlook,” saying he “always tries to remain upbeat when he plays.”

“When I am negative, I usually don’t get any numbers,” he told lottery officials.

Columbia is about 30 miles north of Washington, D.C.

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