Lottery player thinks blurry message says she won $5K. Then she put on glasses
An unsuspecting Maryland lottery player checked her Powerball ticket for the Aug. 30 drawing using her phone.
Without her glasses, the message was a bit fuzzy, but she thought she had perhaps won $5,000, Maryland Lottery officials said in a Sept. 4 news release.
“I couldn’t read it without my glasses,” the player said of the message.
Turns out, her prize was much bigger.
The woman grabbed her glasses when she got home and got a much clearer picture — one that left her “all smiles,” lottery officials said.
“It was a $50,000 winner,” the woman said.
Her ticket matched four of the white balls, along with the Powerball, according to lottery officials. The winning numbers in the Aug. 30 drawing were 3-18-22-27-33 with a Powerball number 17.
“I couldn’t believe it,” she told lottery officials.
The winner said she’s unsure how she will spend her prize, adding that “she is very blessed.”
The player told lottery officials she bought her ticket at a Forestville gas station.
“I will go there again,” the woman said.
Forestville is about a 40-mile drive southwest from Baltimore.
What to know about Powerball
To score the 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 can be bought on the day of the drawing, but sales times and price 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 September 5, 2025 at 4:20 PM with the headline "Lottery player thinks blurry message says she won $5K. Then she put on glasses."
