2 Maryland residents hit big, winning $1 million each on scratch-offs

MARYLAND - There are two new millionaires in Maryland after they hit big on scratch-offs, both bought at stores in Laurel last week.  

One of the tickets, a $1 Million Royale scratch-off, was purchased at the Giant grocery store on Fairlawn Street. The other was a 100X The Cash bought at a 24/7 Convenience Store on Old Sandy Spring Road. 

Winners have to redeem their tickets at the Maryland Lottery Claims Center in Baltimore, by appointment. 

Five players won prizes of $100,000 or more in Baltimore, Elkton, Hyattsville, Pasadena and Waldorf. In all, 29 Maryland Lottery tickets worth $10,000 or more were purchased or claimed in the week ending Feb. 25.

The Mega Millions jackpot increased to $563 million over the weekend because no one matched all six numbers but two players in in Elkridge and Oxon Hill matched four white balls plus the Mega Ball to win $10,000. 

The next Mega Millions drawing is Feb. 27.

According to a new study by LotteryGeeks, the number 10 is the luckiest, being picked 211 times on average while 47 is the unluckiest, with an average frequency of 177.6. The second luckiest number is 28, they say. It has been called a total of 1,043 times and has appeared 324 times in Powerball alone. Third on the list is the number 16, with an average frequency of 208.

"It’s not surprising that so many people take their chances with participating in the lottery looking at the huge jackpots. Lottery numbers are chosen using a random algorithm, which is used to make the numbers unpredictable. However, it is interesting to see such a big difference in frequencies of certain numbers," a spokesperson for LotteryGeeks added.