Chasing a $1.2 billion Powerball jackpot brings lucky third-tier prize
A Howard County man is one happy Lottery player after claiming a $50,000 prize he won playing Powerball last October. He prefers Racetrax, but bought a Powerball ticket on Oct. 4 because the estimated jackpot annuity at that time was $1.2 billion. Missing the jackpot by just one number, the big winner happily walked away this week with one of Maryland’s two third-tier prizes in the Oct. 4 drawing.
The married father of two plays Powerball once in a while and actually played one of his previous ticket’s numbers for the lucky drawing. “I normally don’t do a replay, but I was on my way to work and I had some extra cash,” said the information technology professional.
The Laurel player made his purchase at Calverton Exxon in Beltsville and settled in for a day of working from home. He said he normally checks his tickets for a win at night, but the Powerball drawing came and went. The winner didn’t check his $15 ticket until the next morning.
“I scanned my ticket and the message said I was a $50,000 winner,” said the player. “I had to wake my wife up because I was so excited.”
A few days later, the Racetrax fan was at Calverton Exxon located at 4040 Powder Mill Road when the owner announced that a $50,000 Powerball ticket was purchased at his store. “I smiled on the inside, because he was talking about me,” the winner said, chuckling. “I didn’t want anyone to realize it was me, so I kept calm.”
He waited until 2024, when news of the big win had died down, to claim the prize at Lottery headquarters in Baltimore. The winner told Lottery officials that he plans to use the prize to pay debts, give to charity and to help with college expenses for his daughter.
