A Gallatin County woman (who wished to remain anonymous) says something recently was telling her to buy a Powerball ticket. She followed her intuition – and is now $150,000 richer.
“I told myself that morning, ‘I have to stop in town to pick up the winning ticket,’” she told lottery officials.
While running errands on May 13, she stopped at the Speedway on US 42 in Florence to purchase a Powerball ticket. The following Tuesday she scanned it at a store using the self-ticket checker when she saw the message, ‘You won $150,000.’
She said her first thought was, “I did it!”
“I just stood there staring at it (display screen). It went blank so I scanned it again just to make sure. I checked it a third time and this time took a picture because I knew my husband wasn’t going to believe me,” she said.
Her winning ticket matched the first four white ball numbers and the Powerball to win the game’s third prize on the May 14th drawing. This prize usually pays $50,000; however, she chose to spend an additional $1 for the Power Play feature, which multiplies any winnings on the ticket (with the exception of the jackpot and the second prize) by the Power Play number drawn (3).
“I don’t normally play Power Play, but my husband always does,” she said.
She went home to tell her husband the news and found him taking a nap. She said to him, “you really need to wake up. He wasn’t completely awake when he looked at it and thought it was $150. I said, ‘no, you need your glasses,’” she said. For a few minutes he didn’t think it was real. He went online to look at the winning numbers and was able to confirm the win.
“We’ve played for so many years. It feels good,” she said.
After taxes, she received a check for $106,500. She told officials she recently became a stay at home mom and the winnings are going to make their family more comfortable.
The Speedway in Florence will receive a $1,500 bonus for selling the winning ticket.
Kentucky Lottery
