Sept. 26 (UPI) -- A Maryland man ended up winning a lottery jackpot of $150,000 after accidentally buying three tickets for the same Pick 5 drawing.
The 67-year-old Towson man told Maryland Lottery officials he forgot he already bought tickets for the midday and evening Pick 5 drawings Sept. 20 to 25, so when he was preparing to undergo surgery he made sure to buy a ticket for the Sept. 22 evening drawing.
The man said his wife, unaware that he had already purchased tickets for the drawing twice, bought him a third ticket for the same drawing.
The man's numbers -- 5-1-3-5-9 -- came up, earning him a total prize of $150,000 from his three tickets. He said the winning number is based on his wife's birthday.
"The one time that I accidentally buy three tickets, the number hits three times. It was unbelievable," the player said.
The man said he previously won a big jackpot from a Pick 3 drawing, and he scored a top prize earlier this month in the Sept. 2 midday Pick 4 drawing. He said a lucky mistake also played a hand in that incident.
"I went to play my daughter's birth year -- 1979," he said. "The clerk at the store got it wrong and gave me the wrong number -- 1997. When I got home later, guess what four digits hit that day? 1997!"
The winner said he plans to share his prize with his two daughters.