Feb. 8 drawing delivered Lottery luck for longtime Powerball player
A Frederick retiree who has loyally played Powerball over the years despite his lack of a big win is all smiles after a $50,000 prize came his way.
The day he learned about his good fortune in the Feb. 8 drawing, however, was a different story. First came surprise and wonder, because he knew he had won but didn’t know how much. Following that reaction was shock and awe as the Frederick County resident learned the size of his first Powerball prize. His first big win was a whopper!
The loyal player bought the lucky ticket while doing his Sunday grocery shopping at Weis Market #100, located at 2 Old Camps Road in Frederick. Each time he visits the store, he checks tickets from the previous week, and then buys tickets for upcoming drawings.
“The young girl working there was new,” he said. The day he brought in his winning ticket, she scanned it but wasn’t sure how much he won. She could only tell him that the winning quick-pick ticket was worth more than $600, which made it too large for the grocery store to cash.
The 68-year-old took the Powerball ticket home and, later that day, visited a local liquor store. “The lady said, ‘I think you may have a really big one,’” he said. When she verified his $50,000 win, “she about had to pick me up off the floor. I think she was even more excited that I was!”
The happy bachelor told his family and girlfriend about his Lottery luck and has no special plans for his prize. He was one of three Marylanders who won $50,000 in that drawing; one of the three added the Power Play multiplier and doubled the prize to $100,000. The jackpot has rolled to $53 million for the Wednesday, March 1 drawing, with a cash option of $32.4 million.