Friends joke they won ‘at least’ $5 in Maryland lottery. It was much more
Two friends who routinely play the lottery together were shocked when they finally won the top prize in Maryland, officials said.
The Baltimore County duo calls themselves the “Original Pranksters” “because they like to have fun and joke around, play a few times a month and put any winnings into the pot for next time,” Maryland lottery officials said in a May 8 news release.
“We definitely set a limit,” one of the friends told officials about their playing strategy.
“The women use the time to hangout, eat and see if they have any Lottery winners,” officials said.
They explained they turn it into a fun game by scratching off the winning numbers and “your numbers” sections without revealing prize amounts, officials said. The pair had one match between those numbers in the Big Money scratch-off game but didn’t reveal the prize until they speculated about how much it might be.
“At least we won $5,” one of them joked.
“That ‘Original Pranksters’ laughter turned to smiles as they saw they won the top prize of $50,000,” officials said.
The friends also work together and told officials they aren’t yet sure how they’ll spend their winnings.
“I still don’t believe we won,” one of them said.
This story was originally published May 8, 2025 at 6:28 PM with the headline "Friends joke they won ‘at least’ $5 in Maryland lottery. It was much more."
