$305K Win Celebrated By Government Employee

CAPITOL HEIGHTS, MD — A federal government employee won more than $300,000 playing Racetrax last month, the third-biggest win in game history.

The Prince George’s County man recently told Maryland Lottery officials that he doesn't play lotto games often, but when he does, it's always Racetrax. Plus, he uses a very specific strategy - but didn't follow that strategy on his last play and ended up winning $305,776.50.

Racetrax is a computer-animated lottery game by the Maryland Lottery that combines simulated horse racing with a Keno payout structure.

For this win, the player stuck with his favorite horses, 9, 10, 11 and 12 (all longshots) and his favorite wager (superfecta), but as he stepped up to the counter, he switched his bet to superfecta box. This change allowed for a win no matter what order his horses finished in, as long as they were all among the first four.

“I never box my numbers because it costs more, but this time something made me switch it up,” he said.

The Capitol Heights resident watched the race at the gas station where he’d stopped to fill up his tank.

“I was in no hurry so I went in to try my luck,” he said.

As his horses made their way toward the front of the pack, his excitement got the best of him, lottery officials shared.

“It’s a little embarrassing, but I was yelling for them to pull ahead," he told lottery officials.

Knowing that he’d won something big, the Racetrax fan scanned his ticket.

“I was expecting $30,000. When I saw all the extra numbers, I started jumping around," he said. “I had to apologize when I left. I’d knocked down a couple displays in my excitement.”