BROWNSVILLE, Ky. (FOX 56) — A Kentucky man won big after using the numbers of his birth date to play the lottery.

James Payton Jr. told Lottery officials he plays the Pick 4 game daily, usually using the month and day he was born (0-9-1-2) as his numbers, and on Sunday, those numbers hit… big time.

Payton Jr. was with his girlfriend at the BP Fastrac on Nashville Road in Bowling Green when he pulled the Pick 4 numbers up on his phone.

“I saw my numbers and told her, ‘I think I just won $140,000,’” he said. “I had just been saying to her, you have to play to win.”

Although he may not have won what he initially estimated, he wasn’t too far off as he ended up winning $115,600, taking home $82,654 after taxes.

Payton Jr. joked with Lottery officials saying his girlfriend doesn’t usually play but decided to purchase a scratch-off ticket — it was a $60 winner.

“She was excited about winning and wasn’t too happy with me stealing her thunder,” Payton Jr. said jokingly.