Lucky Kentucky woman scans Powerball ticket days later to find she’s won a huge prize
A Kentucky woman is planning home renovations after winning $2 million recently playing Powerball.
In a Wednesday release, Kentucky Lottery officials said the Elizabethtown resident, who wishes to remain unidentified, bought her Powerball ticket for the Dec. 20 drawing but didn’t realize it was a winner for several days.
The winning numbers for the Dec. 20 drawing were 27, 35, 41, 56, 60 and Powerball 16, with the rolling jackpot then at more than $570 million.
It wasn’t until Dec. 23, when the Kentucky woman was purchasing another ticket, that she scanned her Powerball ticket and discovered she had matched the five white balls, but not the Powerball.
The odds of that win, worth $1 million, are 1 in 11.688 million, according to Kentucky Lottery. The woman had purchased the Power Play for an additional $1, however, which doubled her winnings.
“I’m so glad I did. I always play the Power Play,” she told lottery officials per the release.
She was one of just two $1 million winners nationwide in the Dec. 20 drawing, according to Powerball’s website.
Powerball, a popular lottery game across many U.S. states, challenges players to select five numbers from one to 69 and a Powerball, numbered one to 26. Each play is $2, and you can have the computer auto-select numbers for you. The more numbers matched to the drawing, the bigger the winnings. The odds of a jackpot win on a $2 play are 1 in 292 million.
The most recent Kentucky winner told lottery officials she is “still soaking it in.”
“I was more like in shock,” she said of discovering her win. “I put it [the winning ticket] back in my purse and continued on with my business to get the next ticket.”
After taxes, the woman collected a check for $1.44 million from Kentucky Lottery headquarters in Louisville. She says she will spend the money on some work for her home.
“It was a blessing in disguise,” she said.
The retailer who sold her the winning ticket, the FiveStar convince store on North Dixie Boulevard in Radcliff, will get a $20,000 bonus.
Kentucky had a number of large-prize Powerball wins in December, including two tickets winning $50,000 in the Dec. 30 drawing and a third $50,000 winner in the New Year’s Day drawing.
A Michigan player secured the jackpot in the Jan. 1 drawing, winning more than $842 million, the fifth-largest prize in game history.
The next drawing will be held Wednesday, with an estimated $60 million jackpot.
Resources are available for those struggling with gambling through the National Council on Problem Gambling and Kentucky Lottery. If you or someone you know has a problem gambling, help is available at 1-800-522-4700.
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