April Fools’ Day drawing delivers big win in Montgomery County
A Montgomery County man wasn’t fooling when he phoned his wife at work to urge her to come home early shortly after he discovered his $50,000 April Fools’ Day Powerball win.
His wife was startled and asked if something was wrong and if he was OK. “Just drop everything by 2, at least,” he recalls saying to her. Once she arrived at their Gaithersburg home, the happy Powerball player revealed his third-tier winning ticket.
He had bought the lucky $2 quick-pick ticket at 7-Eleven #32879, located at 3 Professional Drive in Gaithersburg. A Powerball and Mega Millions player, he buys tickets to the national jackpot games when he stops at Lottery retailers to fill his gas tank. He’ll check tickets from past drawings and buy tickets for upcoming ones.
On the day he discovered his big win, he scanned the Powerball ticket using the store ticket checker and couldn’t believe his eyes. “There were people in there so I didn’t want to make noise,” he said, “so I kept it in.”
He gave the ticket to the clerk and she thought he wanted to cash it rather than verify the win. “I think she thought it was $500,” the winner recalled. When she realized the ticket was worth $50,000, the clerk let out a celebratory yell and let him know she couldn’t cash such a large prize. His secret was out! “Everybody in the store knew something had happened.”
The winnings will go to pay bills and boost the couple’s savings account, he said.
Want to join our winner and try your luck with this weekend’s national jackpot games? Tonight’s Mega Millions drawing is for an estimated annuity of $414 million with an estimated cash option of $221 million. The Saturday, April 8 Powerball drawing is for an estimated jackpot annuity of $186 million with an estimated cash option of $98.9 million.
