Virginia man buys ticket while passing through Maryland
The Powerball jackpot had rolled to $375 million for the June 7 drawing and a Virginia man, who was rolling through Maryland, stopped at a Bethesda 7-Eleven for refreshments and his first-ever Powerball ticket.
“I was passing through, heading out of town, and decided to play,” said the 31-year-old. “I don’t normally gamble. The clerk helped me through the purchase.”
He added Power Play to the quick-pick ticket and got back on the road for New Jersey, where he planned to visit his girlfriend’s family. After the drawing, the curious first-time player decided to check his ticket. Was he ever in for a surprise!
“I was looking at my laptop by myself and saw I’d won,” he said. “I was in shock.”
The Prince William County resident didn’t whoop or holler, he said, because that isn’t his style. He did quickly share the good news with his family “and my girl,” he said. “They were pretty excited.”
The lucky novice was one of two Marylanders to win the third-tier $50,000 prize in the June 7 drawing. But his prize was multiplied because he paid an extra $1 on each of the five lines on his ticket to add the Power Play option. The Power Play multiplier for the drawing was 3, which tripled his win to $150,000. Not a bad haul for a $15 ticket.
Our happy winner, who works in the music industry, plans to put his prize in the bank for now. He might play Powerball again, he said, and his lucky retailer is ready to assist! The 7-Eleven store is located at 7820 Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda.