Silver Spring resident Kien Truong takes home his biggest win yet — a $50,000 Powerball prize! |
Takes home third-tier Powerball prize
Kien Truong enjoys playing the Maryland Lottery. The Washington, D.C. chef has won some small prizes through the years, but his recent $50,000 third-tier Powerball win takes the cake.
“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh,” was all he could muster up when walking into the Lottery’s Winner’s Circle and seeing his name on the oversized check.
Last month, the Silver Spring resident stopped by Aspen Hill Citgo in Silver Spring to purchase his Lottery tickets. After the Dec. 21 Powerball drawing, Kien checked his numbers on the quick-pick ticket.
“I first saw that I matched the Power Ball number,” the 52-year-old told Lottery officials. “Then, I saw, one by one, that I had matched other numbers. I was one number away from $40 million. My heart was beating so fast.”
Kien was the only Maryland Powerball player to win the $50,000 prize and one of seven nationwide to do so. No one has hit the jackpot since and it has rolled to $94 million for the Saturday, Jan. 7 drawing with a cash option of $56.6 million.
The excited winner has only told one person about his Lottery luck — his mom. Although Kien has no current plans for his prize, he recently sent his mom on a trip to visit Vietnam, their homeland. The windfall will pay for that ticket and the rest will go in the bank, he said.
Kien’s lucky store, Aspen Hill Citgo, is located at 13615 Georgia Avenue in Montgomery County.