Wife’s advice leads to $5 million win

Drawing Date: 3/8/2016

March 11, 2016 - Ricky Rhinebolt of Mansfield, Ohio, bought an auto-pick Mega Millions ticket two years ago, and he kept playing those same numbers. He had contemplated moving on to new numbers, but his wife told him not to and her advice led to a $5 million win in the March 8 Mega Millions drawing.

Ricky added Megaplier and matched five numbers without the Mega Ball to win $5 million in the Mega Millions drawing held Tuesday. After 29 percent state and federal taxes, he will receive $3.55 million. The winning numbers were 27-37-54-66-69 +5.  

On Wednesday afternoon, Ricky went back to the Marathon where he purchased his ticket to see if he had a winner.

“Everyone in the store was talking about it because they knew the store had sold a winner. I scanned my ticket and thought, that can’t be right so I scanned it again. It said $5 million winner,” Ricky said.

He waited until the line died down and quietly told the owner he had the winning ticket. “He came around the counter and gave me a hug,” Ricky said.

Marathon, at 495 Woodville Road in Mansfield, receives a $1,000 selling bonus.

Ricky said he hasn’t thought much about what he’ll do with the winnings, but paying off bills and possibly buying a new home are on the list.