Laurel woman wins $50K Powerball prize after playing family birthday numbers
LAUREL, MD – A woman from Laurel walked into a grocery store with a handful of family birthday numbers and walked out with a $50,000 winning Powerball ticket — just one number shy of the massive jackpot in the September 3 drawing.
The player, who claimed her prize under the nickname “Finally!” on Friday, matched four of the five white balls drawn, plus the red Powerball, earning the game’s third-tier prize. She purchased her lucky ticket at the Shoppers grocery store at 13600 Baltimore Avenue in Laurel.
She said she typically doesn’t play Powerball, opting instead for Pick 3 and Pick 4 games. But the record-setting jackpot drew her in, and she used numbers tied to relatives’ birthdays and ages. The winning numbers ended up just one digit off from the jackpot combination.
After seeing how closely her ticket matched the results, she showed the slip to her husband. “You won!” he told her after checking the numbers himself.
Though she missed out on the billion-dollar jackpot, she said she’s grateful for the win and plans to use the money to improve her financial situation. She didn’t specify any other plans but hinted she might start playing Powerball more often now.
The September 3 Powerball drawing was part of a 42-draw streak that ended with two jackpot-winning tickets sold in Texas and Missouri. The jackpot had climbed to $1.787 billion — the second-largest in Powerball history.
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Key Points
- Laurel woman won $50,000 after matching four white balls and the Powerball
- She used family birthdays and ages to select her numbers
- Winning ticket was sold at Shoppers on Baltimore Avenue in Laurel