Retiree played same Powerball numbers for years. Then he won big — and couldn’t sleep
A retiree played the same Powerball numbers for years — then he won a prize that kept him awake.
“I couldn’t sleep,” the lucky winner said in a Maryland Lottery news release. “I was up all night.”
The man has a lot to celebrate after he went to Perry Hall BP, a gas station in Baltimore County. While there, he spent $2 on a ticket for the Dec. 16 Powerball drawing.
It turns out, his ticket matched all but one number picked in the drawing, making it worth $50,000. While he got richer, he was one number from scoring the larger multi-million dollar jackpot prize, according to the Powerball website.
“I have played the same numbers for years,” said the man who lives in Parkville but wasn’t identified further in the news release.
While lottery officials didn’t say how much the man kept after taxes, he plans to “pay bills and buy his family extra holiday presents.” He also will continue to use his same lottery numbers, which he chose at random years ago.
It’s not the first time a lucky Powerball player has lost sleep over their big win. In North Carolina, another winner stayed up after learning he scored a windfall, McClatchy News reported in October.
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 20, 2024 at 3:20 PM with the headline "Retiree played same Powerball numbers for years. Then he won big — and couldn’t sleep."
