Woman who rarely plays NC lottery got $3 ticket as Powerball prize grew and won big
A woman who seldom bothers with the lottery softened her stance when the Powerball jackpot prize neared $600 million — and it paid off, according to the North Carolina Education Lottery.
Durham resident Marie Ward invested $3 in the rare bit of frivolous spending.
She won $100,000, officials said in a news release.
So what does a lottery novice do when handed that much free money?
More frivolous spending, it seems.
“My husband and I will go on a nice vacation someplace warm,” Ward said in the release. “We will probably go on a cruise, maybe to the Caribbean.”
She won $50,000 on Dec. 20 by matching numbers on four white balls and the red Powerball, lottery officials said. The additional $50,000 came due to Ward adding the Power Play multiplier option when she bought the ticket online.
“I don’t buy tickets very often but the jackpot was growing so I just said, ‘Okay I’ll give this a try,’” she recalled.
“It was really early in the morning when I found out. I woke up my husband to tell him about it. I was very excited.”
Ward claimed her prize Jan. 3 and the winnings came to $71,509 after tax withholdings were taken out, officials said.
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