A representative of the “3D Winners” group celebrates the trio’s $300,000 Powerball win in the Sept. 1 drawing. |
During a dark time, a tradition began at a U.S. post office in Washington, D.C., that would lead to a trio of friends whose first names all begin with the letter “D” to claim a $300,000 Powerball prize on Oct. 11. Lottery luck brought them a very special delivery of two $150,000 winning tickets in the Sept. 1 drawing.
“We’ve been playing since the anthrax scare,” recalls one of the “3D Winners,” who lives in Laurel. That scare came in 2001 in the weeks that followed the 9-11 attacks. The anthrax scare was of particular concern to postal workers because a series of letters laden with the deadly disease turned up in Washington, D.C., and New York City.
At the time, 16 employees of one post office began pooling their money to buy tickets for each drawing for Powerball, Mega Millions and Multi-Match. They have all retired now and only the “3D Winners” continue to pool their money to buy tickets. They have won some small prizes over the years but never lost sight of the jackpot goal. The trio live in Laurel, Waldorf and Lutz, Fla.
“Persistence and tenacity. You’ve got to know what you’re doing,” said the Laurel member of the group. They matched four white balls and the Powerball in the Sept. 1 drawing to win the third-tier $50,000 prize on two tickets. Because they added the Power Play feature and the multiplier was 3, their prize tripled for the total of $300,000!
The Laurel man plans to spend his share of the prize enjoying his retirement and chasing jackpots with his friends. He isn’t planning any lifestyle changes or celebrations but will continue reading, mostly scripture, and relaxing.
The trio bought their two lucky tickets at Shoppers #2347 located at 3441 Fort Meade Road in Laurel.
The growing Powerball jackpot is in their sights for the Saturday, Oct. 13 drawing, and the “3D Winners” spokesman said they are also chasing the Mega Millions jackpot for Friday, Oct. 12. The Mega Millions jackpot rolled to $548 million with a cash option of $309.2 million while the Powerball jackpot climbed to $314 million with a cash option of $179.4 million. Good luck!