A lucky lottery winner pocketed $25,000 (£22,350) after using a random licence plate number to pick his winning numbers.
Michael Jones, an electrician, picked a car registration number he had memorised and won the Pick 5 lottery prize.
The 52-year-old was at home watching sports on TV when he discovered he had won.
The Maryland State Lottery said: "He was checking his Pick 5 tickets from the Oct. 8 evening drawing when a 50-cent ticket delivered a shocking surprise."
Jones said: "When I saw that my numbers hit, I had to look at it two to three times just to make sure."
The electrician plays so many different tag numbers that he can't recall where he picked out the winning numbers 84824."
He continued: "I know it was someone's tag number, but I can't remember whose tag number. I might have shared some of the money with them if I could remember who it was."
The state lottery said that Jones plans to pay off some of his bills and share the money with his wife and two adult children.
The state lottery said: "According to the lucky winner, he plays the Pick 4 and Pick 5 games twice a day and plays more than 200 number combinations.
"Michael explained that he places bets using license tag numbers from friends, family and co-workers, too. He even used the license tag number of a person that hit his car in an auto accident.
The state lottery added: "Michael bought his winning ticket at US Fuel located at 6100 Moravia Park Drive in Baltimore. For selling the lucky ticket, the Baltimore City gas station and food market will receive a $250 bonus from the Lottery."
Although winning the lottery comes down to a whole lot of luck, some people think otherwise.
A school bus driver won $50,000 (£45,000) in the lottery, claiming he studied the winning numbers for years and worked out which ones to play.
The 77-year-old told the lottery he had noticed which numbers tended to come up the most often and would pick them.
Over the years, he won "lots and lots of small and not-so-small wins, but nothing quite like this!"
The Maryland State Lottery said: "He's been playing the same Bonus Match 5 numbers for years, a Baltimore man told Lottery officials.
"And for years, he continued, those numbers have paid off."
They added that the bus driver had an excellent memory for numbers, saying: "The 77-year-old school bus driver put his lucky combination together based on game results he remembers going back 20 years."
The lucky winner said: "I can remember numbers and number groups from some of the first Bonus Match 5 drawings you ever had. They just stick in my head."
He was watching TV when the September 16 winning numbers scrolled across the screen. He said: "I recognized them right away, all five of them!"
