A Howard County resident quietly strolled into Maryland Lottery headquarters this week with a lucky Powerball ticket in his hand and a feeling of self-satisfaction. Although the 61-year-old retiree did not win the previous night’s $430 million Powerball jackpot, he did win a $50,000 prize!
The pleased Powerball player said he didn’t get the ticket for the Oct. 20 drawing simply because of the mounting excitement over the rolling Mega Millions and Powerball jackpots. The loyal player reports that he regularly purchases a pair of tickets for both games just in case his luck turns up. Last week, conditions were perfect and the would-be winner and his luck met with perfect timing. His ticket matched four numbers and the Powerball in the drawing — good for a third-tier prize.
The Elkridge man said he did a triple take when he checked the winning ticket at a grocery store counter. When he saw the prize displayed on the screen the third time, the winner quietly left the store and rushed home to share news of his good fortune with his wife.
“I told her I’ve got ‘Oh man!’ news and I’ve got good news. The ‘Oh man!’ news was that we were one number off the jackpot and the good news was that we won,” he said.
The happy winner told Lottery officials that despite his close call with Powerball infamy, he is grateful for his $50,000 win. Two winning tickets were sold in the Oct. 27 Powerball drawing, which carried a $687.8 million jackpot.
Maryland Lottery officials urge players to check their tickets at mdlottery.com. At this time, there are eight additional $50,000 Powerball prizes from October jackpot rolls still unclaimed. The winning tickets were sold in Aberdeen, Frederick, Mechanicsville, New Market, Pomfort, Rockville and Wheaton.
Could the Elkridge man’s lucky store be your next lucky location? Find out by visiting the 7-Eleven #39371 located at 6510 Washington Boulevard in Elkridge.