Montgomery County resident claims third-tier prize of $50,004 in Nov. 2 drawing
A loyal Lottery player from Gaithersburg played a personal set of numbers to grab a $50,004 Powerball prize. His set of numbers ended with the winning Powerball number of 23.
“Michael Jordan was my favorite player and his number was 23,” he said.
The Montgomery County resident explained that he purchased the ticket for the Nov. 2 drawing, which is how he came up with the first three numbers on his ticket: 2, 11 and 22. He added up those first three numbers to get 35 as his fourth number and doubled up 22 to get the fifth number of 44. Had he added up the fifth number to 60 instead, the 44-year-old would have had the $1.2 billion jackpot all to himself.
“I was so close,” said the winner, who plays Powerball twice a week and buys about 10 tickets a week.
He purchased his lucky ticket at 3 Star Beer & Wine in Montgomery County. The jackpot chaser took the ticket into the Gaithersburg store on 18524 Woodfield Road to check for a win and saw the “Congratulations” message. Initially, he thought he had only won a few dollars and was happy to discover he captured a five-figure prize.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he said, adding that he is very grateful for the newfound fortune. The mechanic said he plans to give his mom some of his winnings to help pay her bills.
