A 20-year-old Maryland college student picked up a Powerball ticket on a supermarket run, left it unchecked for days, and found $150,000 waiting on it.
The jackpot was on the news, so he bought one
He is 20, he is at college, and by his own account he rarely plays. What changed his mind in early August was the same thing that changed a lot of minds that fortnight: the Powerball jackpot was on the news, and it had climbed past half a billion dollars. So on Sunday 9 August he picked up a ticket at the Harris Teeter at 8620 Guilford Road in Columbia, Maryland - and then, in the way of most tickets bought on impulse, he went about his week and thought no more about it.
He checked days later, after work
It took him a few days to get round to checking. When he finally did, after a shift, the number on the screen was $150,000. He rushed home to tell his family. The Maryland Lottery quotes his description of what happened next: "I ran laps around the house."
How $50,000 turned into $150,000
The 10 August drawing produced the white balls 6, 37, 54, 55 and 64 with the red Powerball 10. His ticket matched four of the first five numbers plus the Powerball - the game's third prize tier, worth a base $50,000. He had also paid the extra dollar for the Power Play option, and the multiplier drawn that night was 3X. That single extra dollar is what turned a $50,000 win into a $150,000 one.
A vacation, and a BMW M5
He came to Maryland Lottery headquarters on 24 August to claim. He has not settled on firm plans, but he told the lottery he would like to take a nice vacation and possibly buy his dream car, a BMW M5. For now, he seems most pleased by something money cannot buy: at 20, he gets to tell his friends he won the lottery. He said the win has changed his perspective and that he intends to keep playing.
Where the rest of that drawing went
Nobody won the jackpot on 10 August. It stood at $929 million that night, rolled to an estimated $975 million for the Wednesday, and was raised to $1.0 billion before the draw, when a single ticket sold in Quincy, Illinois finally took it. The same 10 August drawing also produced a $1 million second-tier ticket in Maryland, sold at a Harvest Fare in Fallston - the third $1 million Powerball prize in the state in two weeks.
You do not have to be in Maryland to play
Powerball drawings are held on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday nights, and tickets are sold across most US states as well as Washington DC, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and the United Kingdom. Tickets cost $2, with Power Play an optional extra dollar. Players elsewhere can use a licensed lottery courier, which buys an official ticket on your behalf and holds it securely. Must be 18 or over - in Maryland, as in most states, that is the floor.
This article is reported from published reports and official lottery announcements. Details were accurate as reported; prize amounts and winner details can change as claims are processed - verify with the official operator. Amounts are shown in each game's own currency. TopLotteryOnline is not affiliated with any lottery operator. 18+. Play responsibly.
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