Pasadena’s “CLIP” followed a store employee’s suggestion and added Double Play to her quick-pick ticket. That decision gave her a $50,000 third-tier prize.
Pasadena woman takes home $50,000 Powerball Double Play prize
Spring showers were falling on April 7, when an Anne Arundel County woman was out and about running errands. She needed to stop at the bank and decided to also visit her favorite Lottery retailer to pick up her weekly jackpot games. However, Lady Luck had other plans.
“As soon as I pulled into the parking lot, a guy sped in and took my parking space,” said the winner, who is calling herself “CLIP” for publicity purposes. “And, would you believe when I drove to another store, their parking lot was full, too.”
So, the 66-year-old drove to EZ Quick Food Market at 231 Mountain Road in Pasadena, which is a bit further than she would normally go to buy Lottery games. “CLIP” found parking and went inside, purchasing her regular jackpot games for the Saturday, April 9 drawing using her own numbers. She also bought a quick-pick ticket with five lines of Powerball numbers and added the Power Play multiplier option. The cashier asked if she wanted to add Double Play, a new Powerball feature she had heard about, but had never played because she didn’t know much about it.
“So, I just told him, ‘Sure, add Double Play,’” said CLIP, smiling at the memory. Good thing she did, because it was the Double Play drawing following the regular drawing that gave “CLIP” her $50,000 prize. “Everything happens for a reason,” she said.
After making her purchases, the Pasadena woman went home, put her tickets in a safe place and went on about her day. The mother of an adult son and one grandchild didn’t watch the Powerball and Double Play drawings on Saturday. On Sunday, she checked her tickets using the Lottery app on her phone. She was stunned when the message said “Congratulations, $50,000 winner.” The retired retail worker matched four of the white balls and the Powerball in the Double Play drawing, giving her a third-tier $50,000 win.
“I scanned it three times before realizing the win was on Double Play,” said “CLIP.” “I did a happy dance and then called my husband, who was working in another room.”
Her husband, who accompanied her to claim the prize this week, was quite shocked. “She made me turn my back and when I turned around, she showed me the “Congratulations” message on her phone,” he said.
The winner plans to use the prize to pay for two much-needed medical procedures and a vacation with her husband.
No one hit the jackpot in the April 9 drawing or any drawings that followed, resulting in an estimated $400 million jackpot for the Saturday, April 23 drawing. The estimated cash option is $240.8 million.
