Maryland Powerball player surprised by $50K win

Checking lottery tickets for winnings is equally as important as their purchase.

One fortunate lottery player from Maryland was reminded that buying tickets goes hand in hand in checking them, after uncovering a ticket with a $50,000 Powerball win in his car.

The winner chose to remain anonymous

The Maryland Lottery released details regarding the lucky lottery winner.

However, the fortunate man decided to remain anonymous and presented himself with the alias "Malcolm Reynolds" from the early 2000s TV series called "Firefly."

The Lottery did confirm that the lucky winner was from Nottingham, but his true identity will likely forever remain a mystery.

"Malcolm Reynolds" purchased his ticket at Bel Air Looney's Pub, on 312 S. Main Street in Harford County, the Lottery confirmed in a press release.

The man scored the hefty $50,000 win from the Saturday Powerball drawing on September 28.

At the time, the winning numbers were 3, 1, 13, 24 and 39, along with the red Powerball number 22.

The man could've won an even bigger price had he guessed correctly 3 but instead used the number 63.

Still, the tier-three win came as a great surprise for the fortunate lottery player.

The winning ticket was found in the player's car

Speaking to Lottery officials, "Malcolm Reynolds" confirmed that while he frequently purchased lottery tickets, he stacked them on a pile before checking them.

Recently, one of his friends decided to check the pile of tickets.

Not unexpectedly, the man's female friend scanned tickets with the Lottery's app, uncovering small wins of $4 and $7.

However, at some point, she came across the winning Powerball $50,000 ticket.

Initially, "Malcolm Reynolds" couldn't believe the win and said to his friend: "I told her to scan it again."

"Then I went home and looked up the winning numbers online. I had to keep checking. I couldn’t believe it," admitted the lucky winner.

The Nottingham resident was asked about his plans for the lottery win. He refrained from sharing any particular details and said that he would rather keep the money in his bank account.

The story of "Malcolm Reynolds" is one with a happy ending considering that he didn't lose his winning ticket. However, there are plenty of cases where hefty lottery prizes go to waste after nobody claims them within the designated period.

Image credit: Maryland Lottery