“Proud Granddad” of Prince George’s County ended up with two identical tickets for the Aug. 20 Powerball Double Play drawing, which doubled what would have been a $500,000 win to $1 million.
It was Aug. 18 and a Prince George’s County man wasn’t sure if he already had a ticket for the Powerball drawing on Aug. 20. Just to be certain, he decided to buy a ticket that covered the next three drawings, including the Double Play option.
He won $500,000 — for starters, anyway.
It turned out that he had played the same numbers — a series of family members’ birth years — on a ticket covering five drawings that he had purchased on Aug. 12. And that ticket included the Double Play option as well.
“I played it and I forgot I played it,” he said Aug. 26 when he and his wife claimed the windfall.
The result: He ended up with two second-tier $500,000 prizes in the Aug. 20 Double Play drawing, for a total of $1 million.
Going by the name “Proud Granddad” to tell his winning story and remain anonymous, the retiree said he and his wife went on an out-of-state trip after his Aug. 18 purchase. The Aug. 20 drawing happened while the two were out of town, but he knew he had a winner on the second ticket when he checked the drawing results. He told his wife about the $500,000 sure-thing, but kept it in the back of his mind to check for a possible second ticket when he got home.
Sure enough, he found the ticket from his Aug. 12 purchase upon his return home and gave his wife the update.
“To look her in the eye and say I had a $500,000 win was good. It was really good to say I had a million!” he said. “It’s truly an unbelievable moment!”
The recently retired couple have a large family and they’re looking forward to helping out their children and grandchildren.
“Proud Granddad” said he plans on continuing to play the Lottery, adding, “That was Powerball. Maybe Mega Millions is waiting.”
The two tickets were purchased at two different locations, Landover Hills Exxon at 6579 Annapolis Road in Landover and A-1 Laundromat at 6818 Riverdale Road in Riverdale. Each retailer receives a bonus of $1,000 for selling the second-tier Double Play winners.
Meanwhile, the Powerball jackpot has grown to an estimated annuity value of $815 million for the Aug. 27 drawing with an estimated cash option of $376.9 million.
Powerball tickets are $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 ticket for an additional $1, making their $3 ticket eligible for both the Powerball drawing and the Double Play drawing.
Powerball’s largest jackpot so far this year was $526.5 million, which was won in the March 29 drawing. The Powerball jackpot was last hit at $204.5 million on May 31.
Powerball tickets are sold in 45 states, along with Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Both the Powerball and Double Play drawings have nine different prize tiers, with Powerball ranging from $4 up to the jackpot and Double Play ranging from $7 up to $10 million.
