Howard County dad bought lucky ticket in March 15 drawing
A Columbia resident’s weekly Lottery routine involves buying tickets for upcoming Powerball or Mega Millions drawings, and then checking his tickets from previous purchases to see if he won.
He’s followed this routine for decades, enjoying a few small wins of $50 and $100. And then came March 15. The father of three bought a $4 quick-pick ticket for that night’s Powerball drawing while at Giant #155, located at 7200 Cradlerock Way in Columbia.
A couple of days later, the part-time state employee was in a Royal Farms store to make his next Lottery purchase. He then scanned the March 15 Powerball ticket using the store’s ticket checker in hopes of finding a prize.
“I buy the new one and I check the old one,” he said. This time, the ticket scanner flashed a new message. “It said, ‘See Lottery,’” the winner said. “I did it again and again. I checked it a couple of times.”
The happy winner said only the man next to him realized he won the game’s third-tier prize before the Howard County resident left the store. He’s keeping his lucky win a secret and plans to use his windfall to pay bills and save for a new vehicle. He also plans to keep playing his favorite jackpot games.
“Only one more number and I would have won the jackpot,” he said. The Powerball jackpot is still on a roll after a single Virginia ticket won $162.6 million in the March 4 drawing. The estimated annuity value for the Wednesday, March 29 drawing is $132 million with a cash option of $71.4 million.
