 Heinz the family dog is lucky indeed! His owner dedicated his $50,000 Powerball win to the mixed-breed pooch. |
Lots of folks hate Mondays because it’s the day the workweek starts and a fun-filled weekend ends. Monday became fantastic for a Baltimore man, however, as soon as he realized he won $50,000 in the Saturday, Jan. 5 Powerball drawing!
The player usually sticks to Mega Millions and Multi-Match but made an impulse buy of a $10 quick-pick Powerball ticket while at Little Abners Liquors in Baltimore. He was there to pick up refreshments before the Saturday night playoff game between the Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks. The store, located at 1306 Linden Avenue, is one of his regular Maryland Lottery retailers.
Fast forward to Monday morning, when the Coca-Cola service technician was sitting in his work truck. He heard a Maryland Lottery commercial on the radio that reminded him about his unchecked Powerball ticket. Our winner fished the ticket out of his wallet and scanned it using the Maryland Lottery app on his smartphone. When the app told him to take his ticket to a Lottery retailer, the lucky player knew something was up and checked the numbers himself.
“I looked at the numbers and saw that I had matched all but one,” he said. “I went and asked my boss if it looked right to him.” His supervisor said, “It looks like you won something, go handle that.”
The 34-year-old called home to share news of his good fortune with his wife and family. He then drove home to pick up his wife and daughter to accompany him to Lottery headquarters in Baltimore, where he claimed his $50,000 prize. His older son had already left for school and missed the fun.
The winner dedicated his big win to the family dog “Heinz.” He plans to pay bills with his windfall and take his family camping.
No one hit the Powerball jackpot in the Jan. 5 drawing, so it stands at $82 million for the Jan. 9 drawing. The cash option is $50.2 million.