Rosedale man’s family birthdays deliver surprise $40,000 mega millions prize
Lottery Tickets

Rosedale man’s family birthdays deliver surprise $40,000 Mega Millions prize

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1 min read
September 4, 2025

Baltimore, MD – A Baltimore County correctional system administrator who nearly gave up on his favorite lottery strategy walked into Maryland Lottery headquarters Tuesday with a $40,000 Mega Millions ticket in hand.

The Rosedale resident, who asked not to be named, said he had long abandoned the practice of playing family birthdays as his numbers after years of disappointment. But last month, on a whim, he returned to those dates — and won big.

“I won $2,000 last year, my biggest prize ever,” he said. “I don’t buy tickets too often, and when I do, I never spend more than $5.”

This time, his $5 Mega Millions ticket from the Aug. 12 drawing yielded a five-digit prize. “$40,000? How could this be, I thought?” he recalled.

The winning ticket was the first he purchased using his wife’s and children’s birth months and years since abandoning the system.

“The first ticket I bought with the numbers was this one. Amazing,” he said.


Key Points

  • A Rosedale man won $40,000 in the Aug. 12 Mega Millions drawing.
  • He picked family birthdays, a method he had previously stopped using.
  • The correctional system administrator had only spent $5 on the winning ticket.

Sometimes luck comes back around when you least expect it.

Phil Stilton is the Editor and Publisher of Shore News Network, an independent digital newsroom providing original reporting on New Jersey, national news, government, public policy, public safety, courts, and community affairs.

As founder of the publication, Stilton leads editorial strategy, investigative reporting, and daily newsroom operations while overseeing coverage that reaches millions of readers annually.

With extensive experience covering municipal government, county government, state legislatures, elections, law enforcement, emergency management, and public records, Stilton specializes in translating complex government actions into clear, factual reporting. His work frequently relies on primary source documents, including court filings, legislation, public meeting records, election finance disclosures, government databases, police reports, and Freedom of Information and Open Public Records Act (OPRA) requests. He has reported extensively on local government accountability, taxpayer spending, campaign finance, public corruption investigations, infrastructure, public safety, and the policies affecting New Jersey residents.

Under Stilton's editorial leadership, Shore News Network has grown into one of New Jersey's largest independent digital news organizations, publishing thousands of original news articles each year while providing breaking news coverage, investigative reporting, and analysis across state and local government. The publication's reporting is routinely sourced from official government agencies, public officials, court records, and firsthand documentation, with a commitment to transparency, attribution, corrections when warranted, and clearly distinguishing factual reporting from opinion.

Stilton's journalism follows established newsroom standards emphasizing accuracy, verification, fairness, and accountability. Every effort is made to verify information through official records and multiple reliable sources before publication. His reporting is intended to provide readers with timely, well-documented information that helps them understand the issues affecting their communities, while maintaining editorial independence from political parties, government agencies, advocacy organizations, and commercial interests.

Readers can submit story tips, corrections, public records, or media inquiries through the official Shore News Network website or its verified social media channels. Shore News Network welcomes corrections and updates when new information becomes available as part of its ongoing commitment to accurate and transparent journalism.

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