Advertisement inspires woman to play Powerball a new way — and she wins big
A West Virginia woman couldn’t believe her luck after an advertisement led her to a huge Powerball win.
The Parkersburg woman matched four numbers and the Powerball with an added Power Play option in the Dec. 14 drawing for a grand total of $100,000 in winnings, the West Virginia Lottery said in a Dec. 17 Facebook post.
The winning numbers were 12, 17, 23, 52 and 67, with a Powerball of 1, according to the Powerball website. The Power Play was 2x.
The woman told lottery officials she downloaded the state’s lottery app after seeing an advertisement on her phone and purchased 10 Powerball plays with the Power Play option.
“My dad always played the lottery, but I never liked going to gas stations to buy tickets,” she told lottery officials.
Not only did she win big, but she also made history, becoming the first winner on the state’s new digital platform, the lottery said.
Other players won prizes ranging from $4 to $1 million, but no one won the grand prize, according to the Powerball website.
The Powerball jackpot was last won Dec. 7 at an estimated $256 million, records show. The estimated jackpot as of Dec. 18 is $69 million.
What to know about Powerball
To score the jackpot in the Powerball, 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 can be bought on the day of the drawing, but sales times and price vary by state.
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.
This story was originally published December 18, 2024 at 12:23 PM with the headline "Advertisement inspires woman to play Powerball a new way — and she wins big."
