Longtime lottery player was ‘hoping for a bigger win’ — then luck changed. ‘Surreal’
A longtime lottery player had been “hoping for a bigger win” — and her wish finally came true on a $2 quick-pick Powerball ticket in Maryland, officials said in a Feb. 11 news release.
The anonymous player has bought tickets “off and on for as long as she can remember,” but started making it a routine on Friday nights during COVID-19 lockdowns, when she would stop by her local 7-Eleven for Powerball, Mega Millions and Multi-Match tickets.
She’s won prizes under $5,000 over the years but was “always” hoping for that bigger win. Then her luck changed in the Jan. 25 Powerball drawing when she won a $50,000 third-tier prize, officials said.
The message saying she’d won that much was so “unexpected” she was “stunned” and “in disbelief,” so she had the ticket scanned twice to confirm her win, officials said.
“This was a surreal moment you might only dream about,” she told officials, according to the release.
She plans to make “long-awaited renovations to her kitchen” and put any remaining winnings toward other home improvements, officials said.
This story was originally published February 12, 2025 at 7:38 AM with the headline "Longtime lottery player was ‘hoping for a bigger win’ — then luck changed. ‘Surreal’."
