Skeptical wife thought husband celebrating Michigan Powerball win ‘was playing a joke’

A 62-year-old Michigan husband who played the Powerball had a lot to celebrate when he checked his Michigan Lottery account after a recent drawing. He just had to convince his wife the winnings were real.

As Clinton Llewellyn didn’t just win a cash prize with one of his Powerball tickets — he won with six tickets, according to a Dec. 12 news release.

The Waterford man had bought several tickets for the Nov. 2 Powerball drawing using “special numbers,” according to Michigan Lottery officials.

“I play Powerball a few times a year and usually play special number combinations made up of birthdates,” Llewellyn said in the release.

On two of his tickets, he matched four white balls and the Powerball, officials said. This qualified him for two cash prizes of $50,000 each, but because Llewellyn added on the Power Play option, each prize was multiplied by two.

With his four other winning tickets, Llewellyn matched the Powerball and three white balls, according to the release. Each ticket was worth $100, but they were multiplied to $200 because of the Power Play.

In total, Llewellyn won $200,800 in Powerball prize money.

“A few days after purchasing my Powerball tickets, I logged in to my account to purchase a Mega Millions ticket,” the man told lottery officials. “When I saw my account balance, I knew I’d won big on Powerball and I couldn’t believe it!”

His skeptical wife had a hard time believing it too.

“I called my wife right away and she thought I was playing a joke on her,” Llewellyn said.

Llewellyn recently claimed the money and said he plans to invest his newfound cash.

After taxes, he took home $144,300.

Waterford is in the northwest corner of the Detroit metropolitan area. Llewellyn bought his tickets at MichiganLottery.com.

This story was originally published December 12, 2022 at 10:51 AM with the headline "Skeptical wife thought husband celebrating Michigan Powerball win ‘was playing a joke’."