$3 quick-pick ticket leads to win in Feb. 12 drawing
A 66-year-old Powerball player couldn’t stop smiling when she claimed her $100,000 prize this week.
The Washington, D.C. resident often crosses the state line into Maryland to do her shopping and to run errands. The retired cashier was doing just that on Feb. 12 in Prince George’s County when she noticed a new Royal Farms store at 3700 Donnell Drive in District Heights. The store had opened across the street from where she was shopping so the Lottery fan decided to check it out.
“I went in and saw the nice, new Lottery vending machines and decided to buy some tickets,” she said.
The jackpot chaser purchased tickets for Powerball, Mega Millions and a few other games she enjoys playing. She gave her $2 quick-pick Powerball ticket an added boost by paying an extra $1 for the Power Play multiplier option. Then, the 66-year-old put the tickets away and left Royal Farms #269. She didn’t check them until the next day.
Once again, she was in Maryland shopping at a Walmart and popped into a 7-Eleven to scan her previously purchased games. She went through the batch of tickets and was pleasantly surprised when she scanned the final one.
“I didn’t know what to think when I saw that $100,000 message come up,” she said, smiling. “I still went to another store to confirm (the big win) on their scanner, too.” The lucky player had matched five of the white balls and the red Powerball in the Feb. 12 drawing for a $50,000 third-tier win. However, the Power Play multiplier was a 2 and that doubled her prize to $100,000.
The mother of two grown children and three grandchildren immediately called her son and son-in-law to tell them the news. Her son-in-law, who later accompanied her to Lottery headquarters to claim the prize, remembers the call well. “She just kept saying how many zeroes she saw on the scanner,” he said, laughing.
The lucky player hurried home and hid her winning ticket in a sock. Once settled down from the revelation of her win, she waited patiently over the Presidents’ Day holiday weekend to claim the $100,000 prize on Tuesday. What will she do with her prize? The lucky grandmother told Lottery officials that she plans to use the prize to pay bills and to treat her grandchildren.