Jackpot chaser misses top win by one number
A routine chore turned a Harford County man into a $50,000 Powerball winner when he found his forgotten jackpot tickets while cleaning out his truck.
The Fallston resident said he only buys Powerball and Mega Millions tickets when jackpots pass the $200 million mark. That happened last week, when the Powerball jackpot grew to $261 million and Mega Millions to $303 million. The player made sure to get tickets for both games at Northside Liquors located at 210 North Philadelphia Boulevard in Aberdeen.
Then, the jackpot chaser forgot about his tickets! They didn’t cross his mind until a week later when he was cleaning out his truck.
“The crazy thing is that they had fallen behind the console,” said the winner. “I took them to the retailer and scanned them and that’s when I knew it was serious.”
The retailer confirmed that the 59-year-old had a $50,000 winning Powerball ticket in the Aug. 2 drawing.
“I didn’t say a word and calmly walked out of the store,” said the lab technician. “Once I got to my truck, I screamed!”
The married father of one adult daughter went home to share the great news with his wife. “He told me the whole story,” she told Lottery officials as the couple claimed the prize at Lottery headquarters. “He’s a good man and he deserves this.”
The happy winner plans to share the prize money with his daughter, take a vacation and do home improvements.
No one hit the jackpot in that drawing or the ones that followed so players can try to win $430 million in the Wednesday, Aug. 16 drawing. The cash option is $273.4 million.