Lucky winner claims $50,000 prize
A Hagerstown man was feeling the holiday joy when he learned he won a $50,000 Powerball prize.
The lucky winner found his good fortune when he decided to stop at Central City Liquors at 401 West Washington Street in Hagerstown on his way home from work and grab a few tickets for the Dec. 5 Powerball drawing.
“I knew the jackpot was high at the time so I wanted to get in on the fun,” said the winner, who was just one number away from winning a whopping $202 million jackpot.
He told Lottery officials that he discovered that he had won when he went back to check his tickets.
“First I checked my tickets using the ticket scanner in the store,” he said. “Then I went and took my phone out looked at the winning numbers using the Maryland Lottery’s mobile app. I was a bit surprised to say the least.”
He said he knew he had won a large prize because the scanner delivered the “Cash at Lottery” message.
“I got that same message when I won a few thousand playing Multi-Match few years ago,” he said, adding that the Powerball prize couldn’t have come at a better time because his wife lost her job and money is tight. “We have had a rough time of it for the past few years. This money will certainly come in handy.”
He said that he and his wife will pay off some debt and then treat themselves to a much-needed Caribbean vacation. His winning numbers were 1, 27, 33, 47, 68 and the Power Ball was 13. He matched all but the first number in the Dec. 5 drawing.