Hospital Tech Diagnoses Winning Powerball Play Strategy

Silver Spring woman claims $50,000 prize in May 18 drawing

A Montgomery County woman who won $50,000 in the May 18 Powerball drawing told Maryland Lottery officials her system for playing the game makes that prize a down payment on her future jackpot win.

The confident player, who works as a CT scan technician, said her win on a quick-pick ticket bought at 7-Eleven #28823 in Kensington shows that her system works.

“I have a set of numbers that I use for Mega Millions, Powerball and Cash4Life,” said the 36-year-old. “But then, whenever I’m in a store that sells tickets, I pick up a quick-pick ticket for one or two of the games.”

She gathers the tickets she’s collected once a month or so to check them at a Lottery retailer.

“I scanned them last week and saw an unusual message,” she said. “I asked the clerk to check the Powerball ticket and he told me I had to go to the Lottery, that it was too big for him to cash.” Completely shocked and thrilled, the Silver Spring resident hurried to her car to check the winning numbers on her Maryland Lottery app and experienced “pure excitement,” she said.

“I was speechless,” recalled the wife and mother of two. “I just sat there in my car. I eventually called my husband and my brother to tell them.”

That night, unable to sleep, our winner and her husband discussed how the prize would fit into their lives. “We’ve both worked hard and have been blessed, and this is one more blessing, one that we’ll never forget.” They plan to eliminate debt with the winnings.

The Montgomery County woman found her lucky ticket at 7-Eleven# 28823, which is located at 10524 Connecticut Avenue in Kensington.