New mom was one number away from Powerball jackpot. She still won big in Maryland
At the conclusion of a family get-together, a new mom from Maryland told her family they needed to do one thing on the way home.
“We have to remember to stop for Powerball tickets,” the Howard County woman said, according to a July 24 Maryland Lottery news release.
The 30-year-old heeded her own advice and stopped at River Hill Sunoco in Clarksville, about 20 miles southwest of Baltimore, to pick up a $10 ticket with five lines of numbers, lottery officials said.
The next day, the woman’s husband scanned the ticket using his phone and a message appeared on screen, prompting him to call the lottery, officials said.
“I called my wife and said, ‘If you win, will you share it with me?’” the man told lottery officials.
As her husband read the winning numbers back to her, lottery officials said she “was in disbelief.”
“And, when I saw where the ($1 million winning) ticket was bought, I knew it was me,” the woman, who works in healthcare, told lottery officials.
The woman had matched all five white balls, just missing the Powerball, according to officials.
While claiming her $1 million prize, the woman told lottery officials “her lucky win is still sinking in.”
“It’s not life changing,” the woman said. “But, it’s nice to have a little cushion and security.”
The couple plans to tuck away their winnings in a savings account, lottery officials said.
What to know about Powerball
To score a jackpot in the Powerball game, a player must match all five white balls and the red Powerball.
The odds of scoring the jackpot prize are 1 in 292,201,338.
Tickets cost $2 and can be bought on the day of the drawing, but sales times vary by state.
A lottery player from California scored one of the largest Powerball jackpots ever in the July 19 drawing, making them the third person from the state to win a billion-dollar prize in the game, McClatchy News reported.
After “no ticket matched all six numbers drawn” on Monday, July 17, the jackpot soared to $1 billion, one of the highest jackpots in Powerball history, according to a July 18 Powerball news release.
“This has turned into a historic jackpot run; this is only the third time in Powerball’s 31-year history that a jackpot has reached the billion-dollar threshold,” Drew Svitko, Pennsylvania Lottery’s executive director, said in the release.
The highest Powerball jackpot on record was claimed by California winner, Edwin Castro, who won $2.04 billion in November.
Drawings are broadcast Saturdays, Mondays and Wednesdays at 10:59 p.m. ET and can be streamed online.
Powerball is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Many people can gamble or play games of chance without harm. However, for some, gambling is an addiction that can ruin lives and families.
If you or a loved one shows signs of gambling addiction, you can seek help by calling the national gambling hotline at 1-800-522-4700 or visiting the National Council on Problem Gambling website.
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