Man overhears conversation about Powerball and decides to play. Then he wins big
A Maryland man’s decision to switch up his lottery game habits paid off with a huge Powerball win.
The man overheard a conversation at a convenience store in Glenn Dale about the Powerball, which piqued his interest, according to a Jan. 3 Maryland Lottery news release.
“I heard one of the guys in the store say ‘It’s Powerball night’ so I thought that I should buy a ticket,” the Bowie resident said in the release.
So, he decided to toss his hat in the ring and buy his own $3 ticket to see if he’d win anything, lottery officials said.
Then, he noticed some of his numbers started to match the winning Powerball numbers at the store, lottery officials said.
“I saw that I won something at the store. I wasn’t sure how many numbers I had until I checked it on my phone at home,” the retired tech employee said.
When he got home, the man realized he matched four out of five of the winning numbers, lottery officials. Normally, his prize would be $50,000, but a multiplier feature he added on quadrupled the amount.
“I always purchase the Power Play. It usually turns my $2 win into $6 or $8. I didn’t plan on it going up to $200,000,” he said in the release.
Aside from paying off some bills, the Prince George’s County resident plans to spend some of winnings on a vacation with his wife, lottery officials said.
Bowie is about 20 miles northeast of Washington, D.C.
What to know about Powerball
To score a jackpot in the Powerball, a player must match all five white balls and the red Powerball.
The odds of scoring the jackpot prize are 1 in 292,201,338.
Tickets cost $2 and can be bought on the day of the drawing, but sales times vary by state.
Drawings are broadcast Saturdays, Mondays and Wednesdays at 10:59 p.m. ET and can be streamed online.
Powerball is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
This story was originally published January 3, 2024 at 3:58 PM with the headline "Man overhears conversation about Powerball and decides to play. Then he wins big."
