Prince George’s County Dad claims $50,000 Powerball prize
“I’ll consider this a down payment,” a Brandywine man joked with lottery officials on Friday, referring to his interest in the Powerball jackpot that had climbed to the $570 million total won this past weekend. While that jackpot ended up in another player’s pocket, we’re confident that the network engineer will tell you that he and his family are well satisfied with their third-tier win.
“I play lottery every once in a while,” the 48 year-old husband and father told us. “But always when the jackpots get really big. Always.” He was waiting as his son got a haircut on December 30th when he noticed that a nearby store sold tickets. “They had a sign out front with the Powerball jackpot which reminded me. So I went over and got a few tickets.”
A New Year’s Day visit to mdlottery.com informed him that he hadn’t won the big one, that Powerball’s jackpot would continue to climb. He then compared his ticket to the winning numbers. “I noticed right away that I’d matched the last number, the red Powerball. I was happy because I was pretty sure I’d get a few bucks for that, my money back, anyway.” About to click on the link that would tell him how much he’d won, he stopped. “I saw one, two, three and then four other numbers that matched. I said, ‘Wait a minute!’” Calling over his wife to help make sure, the couple realized that their 2018 would start out with $50,000 they hadn’t banked on. “It was just unbelievable.”
The Prince George’s family will dedicate their Powerball winnings to tuition and home repair. “We have some cash flow challenges coming up in a few months, so this is such a big help.” It was the lottery machine at Base Liquors, 4805 Allentown Road in Suitland that produced the $50,000 winner that has brought such a csense of relief to the Brandywine winners.