A Baltimore man is glad he paid the extra $1 for the Double Play option on his Powerball ticket because that’s how he ended up winning $50,000.
The counselor checked his Powerball tickets after the first drawing on Feb. 25 and saw he had no matched numbers. But the Double Play option gave him a second chance with a second drawing a half hour after the main drawing.
That Double Play drawing brought him better luck as he matched four of the five numbers on the white balls plus the red Powerball for a $50,000 prize.
“All I needed was that 19,” he said with a smile; his ticket had a 19 but if that spot had been a 47 instead, he would have matched all five white balls plus the Powerball for a $10 million jackpot win.
The winning numbers for the Feb. 26 Double Play drawing are: 11, 24, 47, 59, 63 and a Powerball of 5.
The City resident said he plans on putting his winnings into his savings account.
The third-tier-winning ticket was sold just over the line in Baltimore County at the 7-Eleven, at 620 Reisterstown Road in Pikesville.
Powerball tickets cost $2, with drawings held Monday, Wednesday and Saturday nights. Powerball Double Play is a separate drawing held 30 minutes after each Powerball drawing. Players can add the Double Play option to their Powerball tickets for an additional $1, making their $3 ticket eligible for both the Powerball drawing and the Double Play drawing.
The next Powerball jackpot for the Monday, March 2 drawing has an estimated annuity value of $249 million.
