He Missed the Powerball Jackpot by One Number. He Still Walked Away With $50,000 - and a Coke.

According to the Maryland Lottery, an Annapolis man in his late 40s who works as a repairman in the oil and gas industry doesn't play the lottery often. When he does, it's usually because a jackpot has grown large enough to catch his attention. His most recent stop at a Wawa on Busch's Frontage Road turned into a $50,000 payday.

The man told the Maryland Lottery he checked his quick-pick ticket and started noticing matches: "There's some numbers matching up here," he recalled thinking, before the realization set in. "Oh my gosh," he said. "I think I won."

His ticket missed the Powerball jackpot by a single number, but still matched enough of the drawn numbers to qualify for a third-tier prize of $50,000. He claimed the prize at Maryland Lottery headquarters on September 11, 2026; the Maryland Lottery has not disclosed which specific drawing produced the winning ticket.

Asked what came next, the winner kept it simple: "I'll buy a Coke and call it a day," he said. Beyond that, he told the lottery he wasn't ready to make any decisions about the money. "I like to stew on it before making any decisions," he said. When he isn't working, the Annapolis resident is an experienced scuba diver who has traveled to dive sites along the U.S. Pacific coast and in Thailand, and he told the lottery he's planning to retire before long.

Powerball's jackpot requires matching all five white balls plus the red Powerball. Matching four white balls plus the Powerball - as this ticket did - pays a fixed third-tier prize of $50,000, regardless of the size of that drawing's jackpot. Powerball drawings are held Monday, Wednesday and Saturday nights across 45 states plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.