 “Mr. and Mrs. Power” of Bel Air were $50,000 winners in the Jan. 9 Powerball drawing. |
Bel Air couple wins $50,000 in Jan. 9 drawing
A trip to the store at his wife’s request and a last-second decision to buy Powerball tickets made a Bel Air resident a lucky winner of $50,000 in the Jan. 9 drawing.
The 55-year-old works in the utility industry, which is why he and his wife dubbed themselves “Mr. and Mrs. Power.” On the evening of Jan. 9, they were at home preparing to host a gathering of friends the next night and they needed a few last-minute items from the grocery store.
“I didn’t want to go that night … I said I’ll go tomorrow, but she said, ‘No, go now,’ ” he said. “So, I went.”
While on his way to Klein’s ShopRite located at 5 Bel Air South Parkway in Bel Air, he passed a 7-Eleven store and noticed how crowded it was. People rushed in to buy tickets for the Jan. 9 drawing, which had a jackpot of more than $900 million.
“I saw that and said, ‘I don’t want to stand in line for tickets,’ ” he said.
After buying the items he needed at ShopRite, “Mr. Power” was on his way out of the store at about 7:30 p.m. when fate intervened.
“I was almost out the door and I heard a woman say ‘Tickets,’ and I turned around and there were only two people in line for the Lottery. So, I got in line and bought $20 of Powerball tickets,” he said.
“Mr. and Mrs. Power” didn’t watch the drawing that night and they hadn’t yet checked their tickets by the time their party started the next day. When the conversation turned to the giant Powerball jackpot, which had then rolled to a world-record $1.6 billion, he pulled his tickets out of his pocket and one of his guests started reading the winning numbers.
“I said, ‘I’ve got those two … and I’ve got that one and that one … I think I’ve won some money here,’ ” he recalled.
After looking up the Powerball prize structure on the internet, he and his wife were soon celebrating their $50,000 win – by far the most they’ve ever won playing Lottery games. “Mr. Power” enjoys playing Mega Millions and his largest previous Lottery win was $200 on Keno. The lucky couple, who have been married 16 years, said they will use the money to pay bills and contribute to their daughter’s college fund.
With the jackpot at an all-time high for both the Jan. 9 and Jan. 13 Powerball drawings, the game produced 39 Maryland winning tickets of at least $50,000 in those two drawings, including four $1 million winners.