Kevin Hollis hoped the Orioles would hit one home run Tuesday during their game against the Philadelphia Phillies. Instead, their historic performance exceeded his wildest expectations and won him big bucks.
The Orioles set a modern franchise record with eight homers in their 19-3 win over the Phillies, and the 28-year-old Hollis set a different record as a result. Watching the game with a friend in the comfort of his home, Hollis became the biggest winner in the six-year history of the Maryland Lottery's Contestant of the Game promotion.
Every home run an Orioles player hit, Hollis won $500 and he totaled $4,500 for the big win, including $500 for being selected. Last year, the most home runs the Orioles hit in a single game was six, which means the largest prize was $3,500.
Hollis' name was mentioned during Tuesday's game after each home run.
"I couldn't believe it," Hollis said. "It was an incredible game."
In order to enter the lottery's Contestant of the Game promotion, players must enter non-winning $5 Baseball Bucks scratch-off tickets into My Lottery Rewards, the Maryland Lottery's loyalty program. Players are automatically entered into the second-chance promotion for an opportunity to win up to $50,000. The Orioles entered Wednesday with 79 home runs this season and the lottery has given away $71,500 in second-chance Contestant of the Game prizes.
"We love these kinds of second-chance contests where the players involved are usually big fans of the partnership that we have with the sports team," said Carole Everett, the Maryland Lottery's director of communications.
Hollis, from Queen Anne, is a big Orioles fan and a chef who has been in the culinary industry for 10 years. He said the money he received will go toward a personal vacation and a special Father's Day gift for his dad. Hollis also wants to invest in his college education.
Only one Contestant of the Game is selected for every regular-season Orioles game and Hollis was chosen from a pool of 156,000 entries. Hollis said he believes he's on a lucky streak.
"Usually once a week, I'll grab a couple of tickets after work or something and just try my luck, and then whatever I've lost, I'll just enter it in online and hope for the best," he said.
One week before he found out he was selected as Contestant of the Game, Hollis bought a $2 scratch-off and won $500. Hollis said his friends are now egging him on to buy their lottery tickets.
"It's amazing to get a record amount of [homers] and a record amount of money won for the Contestant of the Game promotion," said Gail Pelovitz, the Maryland Lottery special games and promotions drawings manager. "It's a win-win for everyone."
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