Going for the Keno gold

With lots of New Year promotions in place, plus some words of wisdom about postseason NFL sports wagering, Maryland Lottery Executive Director John Martin returns to kick off 2026 with some big winners and fun chances to get in on the game.

John Martin from the Maryland Lottery discussed various promotions and winners on the show. The Ravens’ 20-year second chance contest paid out $65,000 to lucky fans, with six finalists set to compete for 20 years of Ravens tickets. The holiday second chance contest offered a shopping spree in Chicago, with six winners including Candace Davis and Jeffrey Mizelwitz. The 2026 Winter Olympics promotion offers a trip to Milan, and the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles has a trip package worth nearly $40,000. The Harlem Globetrotters experience includes sitting on the bench during a game. Martin also emphasized responsible gambling and legal gaming options in Maryland.

• [ ] Send the previously selected Team USA promotion winners to Milan for the 2026 Winter Olympics and complete travel arrangements for those winners
• [ ] Coordinate schedules and arrange appearances for the Milan-bound winners so they can appear on the show (confirm dates and logistics)
• [ ] Schedule and finalize the Cash-and-Dash shopping-spree event in the Chicago area for the six holiday raffle winners (target spring/April) and confirm travel and event logistics
• [ ] Set and announce the date for the final drawing at M&T Bank Stadium for the ’20 years of Ravens tickets’ second-chance finalists
• [ ] Follow up to verify and obtain claimant contact from the million-dollar raffle ticket sold in Pikesville and begin the claims process (winner has up to 182 days)

Maryland Lottery News and Updates

• Nestor Aparicio introduces the show, mentioning the new football coach and the Maryland crab cake tour.
• Nestor Aparicio jokes about John Martin’s Steelers fandom and mentions the Ravens’ Super Bowl campaign.
• John Martin talks about the final drawing for Ravens tickets and the $65,000 paid out to lucky fans.
• Nestor Aparicio shares his experience of giving away tickets and mentions a $100 winner.

Ravens Ticket Contest Winners

• John Martin announces six finalists who have won $10,000 cash and the opportunity to win 20 years of Ravens tickets.
• The finalists include Joyce Merson, Cornell Tony, Sean Stevens, Francine Trip Jones, Patricia Williams, and Sharon Klesinski.
• Nestor Aparicio and John Martin discuss the possibility of having a long-term coach and the challenges of coaching in other cities.
• John Martin mentions the holiday Second Chance contest and the Grand Prize shopping spree in Chicago.

Experiential Prizes and Olympic Promotions

• John Martin describes the shopping spree event in Chicago, where six winners and a guest will run through a prize warehouse.
• Nestor Aparicio and John Martin discuss the appeal of experiential prizes and the excitement of winning.
• John Martin talks about the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, and the Team USA promotion.
• Nestor Aparicio jokes about bringing pastries back from Italy and mentions the new Team USA promotion.

Keno Game and 2028 Olympics Promotion

• John Martin explains the Keno game and the new promotion for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
• Nestor Aparicio and John Martin discuss the excitement of the Olympics coming back to the United States.
• John Martin details the prizes for the Keno promotion, including a trip for two to the Olympics and merchandise.
• Nestor Aparicio shares his experience of playing Keno and the excitement of winning.

Harlem Globetrotters Experience

• John Martin talks about the Harlem Globetrotters promotion and the prize packages for attending the game.
• Nestor Aparicio shares his excitement about the experiential prize of sitting on the bench during the game.
• John Martin mentions the different rules of the Harlem Globetrotters game and the entertainment aspect.
• Nestor Aparicio and John Martin discuss the thrill of being part of the show and the reference to Don Rickles.

Fast Play Games and Holiday Raffle

• John Martin introduces the new family of casino-themed fast play games available at Maryland lottery retailers.
• Nestor Aparicio and John Martin discuss the details of the fast play games, including progressive jackpots.
• John Martin mentions the holiday raffle held on January 2 and the million-dollar prize won in Pikesville.
• Nestor Aparicio and John Martin discuss the coincidence of a previous big winner from Lona Cone in 2021.

Responsible Gambling and Legal Gaming Options

• Nestor Aparicio and John Martin discuss the importance of responsible gambling during playoff season.
• John Martin advises people to be cautious with illegal gambling options and to choose legal entities in Maryland.
• Nestor Aparicio mentions the various legal gaming options available through the Maryland lottery.
• John Martin emphasizes the importance of player protections and taxed revenue streams in legal gaming.

Maryland Lottery and Community Engagement

• Nestor Aparicio highlights the Maryland lottery’s community engagement efforts, including the Maryland crab cake tour.
• John Martin talks about the Maryland lottery’s commitment to giving back to the community.
• Nestor Aparicio and John Martin discuss the importance of supporting local businesses and community initiatives.
• The show concludes with Nestor Aparicio thanking listeners and promoting upcoming events and promotions.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Maryland Lottery, Ravens tickets, Super Bowl, Maryland Food Bank, Second Chance contest, Holiday promotion, Olympic promotion, Keno game, Harlem Globetrotters, Fast play tickets, Progressive jackpots, Legal gaming, Responsible gambling, Maryland crab cake tour, Community stories.

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SPEAKERS

John Martin, Nestor Aparicio

Nestor Aparicio  00:01

Welcome home. We are W, N, S T, am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive. We are positively into the new year, perhaps not, perhaps definitely a new football coach coming our way here, and some fresh crab cakes as well. Maryland crab cake tour is going to get back out on the road later on in the month, and also a cup of Super Bowl is on now that the ravens are not going to Santa Clara, we will be all over the community for five days telling community stories all for the Maryland Food Bank that happens in February. I guess we’ll have a new head coach by then. And this is, you know, I haven’t had John Martin on since last year, and he keeps sending me Steelers fans, and this is where you know, this isn’t a low blow, it’s a fact. I was going to say this is a guy here who knows a lot about changing head coaches. He’s a Cleveland Browns fan. So that was I rehearsed that. I’ve only had a few hours to rehearse that. But how are you thank thank you for the candy cane cash. They still smell like the season, but we’re into a new season here, but you got ravens wrap up in addition to the usual, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and we’re all on the outside watching the Steelers play this week, and nobody’s happy about

John Martin  01:13

that, right? Well, I don’t think we have to watch that for long, but that’s a whole nother conversation. Oh yes, man, we got a lot of loose ends to tie up in 2025, into 2026 and a lot of fun, new, engaging things. But let’s, let’s go backwards before we go forward. Shall we sure we had the final drawing for the Ravens tickets for 20 years of a second chance contest. So we wrapped up the season with our ravens, fan of the game. We paid out $65,000 to lucky fans of the game all season long, for touchdowns by the by the Ravens.

Nestor Aparicio  01:51

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And I gave those tickets away faithfully through the football season. So good luck we I had $100 winner last week, John on one of my tickets. People really win, but this is how people win. They buy a ticket, and they get in second chance, and next thing you know, Femi ibadejo, storing footballs for you, making your money, hopefully, right?

John Martin  02:09

And then we have a date to be determined. So stay tuned. We have six lucky finalists who have already won $10,000 cash, and they now have the opportunity to join us, hopefully at MIT Bank Stadium at a future date, hopefully around the end of the Super Bowl campaign, sometime in mid February. Joyce Merson of Pasadena and Cornell Tony of Bowie are the latest winners for that competition. They will be joined by previous winners, Sean Stevens of Windsor mill, Francine trip Jones of Laurel and Patricia Williams of Baltimore and Sharon klesinski of White Marsh. Those six people will join us, and one of those lucky six will win 20 years of ravens tickets. Now, if I told you 20 years ago that you’d have basically one head coach for that entire run, more or less. You just said, What are you nuts? Well, who knows?

Nestor Aparicio  03:05

Maybe keep a shot. He can only be hope to get an 18 year coach the next time around, right? I tell you what. I mean, you look at it trying to get 18 months in Cleveland. Oh, yeah, I got you, yeah. Listen, listen, at least you’re not a Jets fan. At least you’re not a Jets fan, right? I mean, right. Well, that’s

John Martin  03:21

another guy. What’s Well, see, you’re in

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Nestor Aparicio  03:23

Cleveland, so you pick one Cincinnati. So

John Martin  03:27

right, yeah, hey, we also wrapped up our holiday Second Chance contest with our promotion and the fun, the fun Grand Prize, there is a cash and dash shopping spree at our prize warehouse in an undisclosed Chicago suburban location in hopefully in April, in the spring, six lucky winners will and a guest will be a shotgun start. They’ll run through a a prize warehouse.

Nestor Aparicio  03:55

I feel like I saw the same television in the age Oh yeah, you know what I mean. Like, this was, this was a thing that we did, right?

John Martin  04:01

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Yep, yep, yep. And, you know, they get, they get to throw whatever they can throw into that big container in and if they fill one up in 90 seconds, we’ll get them

Nestor Aparicio  04:12

another one. You know, money’s nice and all that. But this whole experiential something that’s going to be a thrill ride is what you’re trying to give people right and stick around 20 years. That’s a thrill ride.

John Martin  04:24

You can’t get this anywhere else. Candace Davis of Upper Marlboro, Aileen Flanagan of Hereford, Deborah Ford of Baltimore, Denise Hughes of Edgewood, Jeffrey mizelwitz of habit, of grace, Leonard Stanton of Baltimore, Maryland. Those six lucky winners will join us in Chicagoland and have a whole lot of fun. You’re flying

Nestor Aparicio  04:42

them off of Chicago, and they’re going to run through a warehouse and throw stuff into their thing,

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John Martin  04:48

basically right stuff into the thing. Yep, that’s

Nestor Aparicio  04:51

exactly everything you know. As a kid, I always wanted to do that, like Toys R Us or Kitty City.

John Martin  04:56

Yes, who wouldn’t? Who wouldn’t want to do that?

Nestor Aparicio  04:59

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People like stuff. Stuff they do. I mean, I like money too, but they like stuff. John Martin is here. He’s got stuff. Easy executive, let me give you proper Executive Director Maryland lottery New Year giving money away. I’m sure home run riches is around the corner as well. I hope Alonzo costs you a lot of money. That’s all I’m going to say. I haven’t had a chance to tell you that, so I want to tell you that.

John Martin  05:19

You know what, we’ll have plenty of time for the spring. But right now, what’s coming? You realize the Olympics are upon us again next month, the 2026, Winter Olympics, Torino Italia, yes, yes. And we have, you know, we’ll have to get them here. We have lucky winners that we are sending to Milan. What? Yes, yes to they won our previous Team USA promotion. So they will, they will come back from a lot, and we’ll have to get them on the show. Hopefully we can coordinate their schedules,

Nestor Aparicio  05:52

but they bring me back some pastries, you know, if they’re going to Italy. So please, we’re,

John Martin  05:57

we’re getting a new team USA promotion. It had already started. So check out the details at MD lottery.com it is our good as gold promotion.

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Nestor Aparicio  06:08

I’m looking at this right now. This Aquino game, right? This looks like fun. We don’t

John Martin  06:13

do a lot of promotions with Kino, but for for people who who enjoy the game, it’s a nice little benefit. If you’re not familiar with the game, you can check it out at MD lottery.com but the point is, between now and February 22 you can enter your keynote tickets into your My lottery rewards account, and you get one entry per dollar spent. So if you spend a $1 ticket, you get one entry. $2 ticket, two entries, and so it goes. Once your tickets are entered, you have a chance to win a trip for two to the 2028 Olympics, Summer Olympics here in Los Angeles, in the US of A so nice little 2028

Nestor Aparicio  06:51

sounds like, well, that’s a little it’s like two years from

John Martin  06:54

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now it Yeah, just about the math holds

Nestor Aparicio  06:57

Olympics are coming back to United States. This is, you know, it’s exciting, right? I think

John Martin  07:01

so, the you get all the details, but you have five entries, beginning in the end of January through the the end of February. We will have six merchandise winners and one trip winner, and the merchandise is your typical USA team, USA flag waving type of thing, merchandise, but the trip winner and you got some great, great benefits here, it’s round trip for you and a guest, five nights, deluxe hotel accommodations in and around the Los Angeles area, tickets to four Olympic events, ground transportation, all meals, a little bit of spending, cash, a Team USA gift bag, and nice men’s or ladies T shirts, commemorative merchandise, pack all that fun stuff and a lot of estimate value, nearly $40,000 in that trip package. So five lucky people, beginning with the first drawing on January 19. All the details at MD lottery.com,

Nestor Aparicio  08:07

every time I’m at a Costas, people are playing Kino. It’s fun. And I noticed about this when people play Keno, it’s a, you know, parlor game. People play, and they stay, and they play $1 here, and they play for a while. And like every dollar you enter, you get a chance to win this thing. This is, I was just checking it out. I’m like Randy Newman. I love LA, you know. So a little trip to LA 2028, John Martin is here. He is here in the great state of Maryland. Last time I had you on, man, looks like 1,000,000,008 and we’re getting ready Arkansas gets involved and all of that stuff. But the Harlem Globetrotters thing, I know we talked about that. I teased it a little bit with Seth. We’re now into we’re playing the ads here as well, and I get to whistle the sweet Georgia brown song and all of that that is, you know, full and and front for you guys. And I, that’s my childhood fantasy, to have curly Neal throw the confetti and throw the water on me courtside. So talk about experiential sitting on the court with the Harlem Globetrotters. I’m in on that.

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John Martin  09:01

Yeah, one lucky winner, we’ll have, I believe it’s about 30 or 35 prize packages to attend the game on March 15. But one lucky fan will get an experience where they will actually sit on the bench during the game. I don’t know if they’ll be subbed in at any point. I don’t know about that, so I bet they do that. I bet, yeah, you may want to bring

Nestor Aparicio  09:23

your sneakers. I mean, I don’t know if you know this, but the Harlem Globetrotter, they have different rules than the NBA or the college Yeah, it’s different. It’s it’s entertainment, yes, and if you get to be part of the show, you know, other than, like at a Don Rickles act or something like that, it’s great to be a part of the show. You know what? I mean, justice is Don Rickles. I would think that these Harlem Globetrotters people would bring you in like, Don Rickles will, you

John Martin  09:46

know, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep, and that’s, that’s a reference. Maybe not a lot of your listeners, viewers Don Rickles ever heckle you. I went to it see him live and in person and my roommates. His brother got dragged on the stage, and we cried for years retelling that story about about Don Rickles. Don Rickles brought him and his girlfriend up, and it was, ah, so mine, you’re going to one up. Me, go ahead.

Nestor Aparicio  10:14

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No, my buddy, who’s the old Houston Oilers PR guy, Chip name is and so like, if you’ve ever seen Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, these big stars on my show. He represented them at the Super Bowl every year, but he was the Oilers PR guy, and he comes on once a year, and we talk football. He’s a good buddy of mine. He and he’s fun to follow online because he goes to concerts, does stuff, but he put up that his buddy in Memphis, his best friend in the world, got had that happen with Don Rickles, like 40 years ago, and he said it’s still literally, for his friend, the highlight of his life. I said, Did he call him a hockey puck? If he didn’t call him a hockey puck, it was no good. John Martin is here. Hey, you fast play. We don’t talk a lot of fast play. And I’m just up an empty lottery here. And you know, I do like to promote things at the Maryland lottery. You have sort of this thing going on that are more casino related games. And I guess from a branding standpoint, I know what backer add is. I know what three card poker and obviously craps and like that. This is kind of just caught my eye out on the front of the website. I want to talk about it a little bit.

John Martin  11:13

Well, I’m glad you did catch it, because we just started this week. We have a family of games all casino themed. And again, the fast play tickets. If you’re not familiar with that, you can get all the details. And details at MD lottery.com but it’s kind of a hybrid. It kind of plays like a scratch off ticket, but no schmutz. It’s a smushless zone. It’s it’s a computer terminal. You can then use it at our you can purchase at our self service machine, or any of our 4300 lottery retailers around the state. And we have the $1 price point three card poker, we have six games. Five of the six are progressive jackpots, which means every ticket adds a little coin into the into the kitty, and eventually the top prize is one, and you get to win the progressive top prize. And you can get up to them in a date. Updates on those progressive jobs.

Nestor Aparicio  11:58

I look at the progressives right now. So let me just go through this high roller blackjack’s $102,000 that would be nice. Casino cash is $154,000 the 20x cash $533,000 so, I mean, there’s just fast play. You go through all these fast chili pepper payout, there is $1.1 million in the ultimate payday progressive right now. So that’s a $3 play. So go check it out, an MD lottery. But like you’re giving money away, John Martin is what you do with the Maryland

John Martin  12:30

you know, we had a big giveaway on January 2. We had our holiday raffle. We haven’t done holiday raffle in years, certainly not in my tenure.

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Nestor Aparicio  12:39

I promoted that as well. We had a lot of fun with that. But that like it that ends. That’s like a one time. That’s a different kind of promotion, right?

John Martin  12:46

It’s, it’s all over. But the accounting now, and in the accounting, we found something very interesting that I think you’ll find interesting too. Nestor, may I continue?

Nestor Aparicio  12:53

Well, I didn’t do algebra, but I’m good at math, so go ahead. Okay, there you go.

John Martin  12:57

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So we had one winner, one lucky winner of a million dollar prize. I don’t believe they have come forward yet, but they have 182 days from January 2. So I have a little time that winning ticket was sold in in Pikesville. And then the second tier, we had 10 winners of $100,000 each one of those 10 winners happened to be from Lona coning. Does that sound familiar

Nestor Aparicio  13:23

to you? Not a lot of people in Lona coning. I am one of bought it

John Martin  13:27

at the very same Coney market. We’re back five years ago, Nestor, it’s been five years January of 2021 when someone walked into Coney market in Lona coning and won $731.1 million on a Powerball ticket.

Nestor Aparicio  13:44

Census says the population in Lona coning, a town in Allegheny County, Maryland. It’s beautiful town, and there’s a major baseball part of lefty Grove from Lona coning. And you have to, like, drive down this mountain to get there. It’s a huge mountain along the side and water that runs next. It’s beautiful, like a postcard. Population in the 2010 census was 12 114 and the population in the 2024 estimate is 987 so there are less than 1000 people there, and somebody there won 100 grand. Yeah.

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John Martin  14:21

And you know what? I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but gee, what are the odds that the person who won five years ago, $731.1 million jackpot, just kind of playing with house money, took a flyer on a ticket here for the raffle.

Nestor Aparicio  14:38

That would be all right. You gotta let me know if that happened. John Martin is here. We’re talking winners, big winners. Let’s talk some responsibility, because playoff games are happening this weekend, John, I’ll be honest with you, this is new for me. The hardball thing came as like a shocker on Tuesday night to some degree. I mean, Luke and I were together all day. Sunday, I was out in the cold Tom and left me tickets. We. And all that was online, drove back all day Monday, did radio, all that we did not have, like, a game plan for, like, John Harbaugh to be gone on Tuesday night and, like, all of that, that weird stuff that’s been going on around here all this week. But I tell you what, man, the football thing is alive and well, and it’s bigger than it’s ever been. And I was blown away that you can, like, get on your phone and bet on who the next coach is going to be. So like, I’m like, and I’m looking at it. I’m like, Why him? What is that nice? I’m evaluating the numbers because I’m a math guy as well. But I’m and I had a long chat this week about about other sports and about hockey in Canada and betting on hockey with my pal Ed Frank, if again, how different hockey is when you watch it now them, if you watched it 15 years ago, from a goals, I can bet on a player all of these things. I think it’s important we talk a little bit about it, because it’s football season. We’re out of it, but everybody’s gonna be watching the games this weekend. I just always want to remind people, slow your roll as we get into playoff season here in the Super Bowl, and think about what you’re doing, what you’re gambling on.

John Martin  16:04

I would further point folks to our website, at MD lottery.com and look for the legal versus illegal gaming options. And one of the things, when you talk about, you know who the next coach is going to be and things like that, be very, very careful with, where you place your money on those things. There are only a finite number of legal gaming options online in the state of Maryland, and they’re all detailed there. They’re basically people that have purchased a sports book license through the Maryland lottery and gaming control agency or are in the daily fantasy sports business, and again, we oversee that, but there are a lot more options out there than we regulate, and they are basically illegal options. So if you choose to spend your money, go off the board, so to speak, and bet with illegal markets, you don’t have player protections. That information is not coming back, or that that money is not coming back to the state in terms of taxed revenue streams. Just be very careful and make sure that you’re if you choose to get involved with things like that, you’re with a legal entity in the state of Maryland. John Martin

Nestor Aparicio  17:15

is the executive director of all things Maryland, lottery and gaming. They give me these candy cane cashes to give away. We are into a fun postseason here, and interesting times. Luke and I are. Luke will be in Owings Mills. We have things going on. Any breaking news happens first on the wnsd tech service, brought to you by coal roofing and Gordon energy. And I want to give an official apology that some folks that were on AT and T as a service got the text like five hours later. Apologies for that, but we’re working hard to improve and be better here. But we got great coverage, great things going on here and Maryland crab cake tour ahead, brought to you by the Maryland lottery, as well as our friends at GBMC. I am Nestor. We are wnst. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. If we’ve learned anything this week, life comes at you fast, so stay with it. We’re Baltimore positive. Stay with us. You.