Jackpot chaser Dennis Grace of Jarrettsville missed Saturday’s Powerball jackpot by one number. He won $50,000! |
Lucky player missed jackpot by one number
Dennis Grace of Jarrettsville enjoys playing jackpot games and, like other jackpot chasers, starts buying tickets when the jackpot reaches $100 million. He did just that on Saturday, when the Powerball jackpot rolled to $122 million.
The loyal player ran into the High’s #130 at 4101 Norrisville Road in White Hall and grabbed a cool drink and a $10 quick-pick Powerball ticket. “I didn’t bother to watch the drawing or even check the numbers until Sunday.”
In fact, crabs were on his mind, not his Lottery tickets. While picking up the Maryland delicacy, the Harford County resident opened his wallet and remembered the tickets. The lucky player pulled up the winning numbers on his phone and sat in his car to check them. What he saw still has him in shock.
“I normally check the Power Ball first and then read the numbers right to left,” Dennis said, smiling. “The Power Ball matched and so did the rest of the numbers, one by one, except for the first number.”
The winner reports feeling shocked, happy and mad at the same time. He felt happy because he won $50,000 and mad that he missed the $122 million jackpot by one number. Dennis is the only player in Maryland and one of 13 around the country who won $50,000 in the drawing. No one hit the jackpot, which rolled to $136 million for the Wednesday, Oct. 19 drawing. The cash option is $90.5 million.
The federal government employee put the winning ticket back in his wallet and went home to share the good news with his wife and mother-in-law. They thought the ticket was fake until they saw the winning numbers with their own eyes.
Dennis revealed that he is famous for losing things and that’s why he didn’t waste any time coming to Lottery headquarters to claim the prize first thing Monday morning. The father of a 5-year-old and 12-year-old, he plans to use the winnings to pay off bills and maybe take his family to Walt Disney World.