DOVER, Del. — A married couple from Wilmington, Delaware, managed to make their dreams come true when they won $1 million with Powerball, courtesy of the Delaware Lottery.
"I normally play when Powerball reaches a certain amount, somewhere around $60 or $80 million," said the man, 59, claiming the prize on June 12. "In this case, I just happened to be at a store and picked up a Quick Pick ticket."
Indeed, it was a well-timed purchase on June 9 at Wilmington's Shore Stop located on Centerville Road, for that evening's drawing. The man had managed to match all five numbers for a cool $1 million prize.
"I had been out to dinner with a relative from across the country," said his wife. "We arrived home shortly after the numbers had been drawn and my husband said, 'I just won a million dollars!'"
The husband laughed heartily. "She shouted, 'SHOW ME!'" he joked.
Showing both her and the relative the winning ticket, thoughts turned to how best to spend the newfound winnings.
"My wife said we should pay it forward," noted the husband. "And I think some form of charitable contribution is how that will go. We also want to help some people in terms of education, that sort of thing."
"Delaware Lottery players give back to the community in many ways already because revenue generated from Lottery tickets sales contributes to the funding of many State-provided services in Delaware," said Vernon Kirk, Director of the Delaware Lottery. "It's always nice to hear when our players decide to take an extra step and share or donate a portion of their winnings."
The couple notes that they will certainly play again, but requested anonymity in their winnings, with just one small matter to take care of—informing their family.
"Because it's so recent, we still need to tell our families," said the woman, with a big smile. "My one relative was able to share in the moment and it was wonderful, but then we had to put him on a plane and tell him to be quiet for a week or two."
Thanks to Kendall for the tip.
Another player who normally only plays when jackpot is bigger. Beginning to see a pattern and a lesson here folks?
Paying it forward is wonderful, just more good Karma being generated!
Nope, this is not a trend nor can lesson be learned from this. The sheer numbers of players make it probable that first time, occasional, and "big jackpot" ticket players to win from time to time. I think the majority of winners hail from long time lottery players. The lessons I will never forget are:
1) you have to have a ticket for the drawing to have a chance to win.
2) play as an individual.
3) don't tell anyone you have won until you have met with your financial and legal team, AND actually have winnings in your bank account(s).
4) don't say you will give to charities, family and friends as you will be deluged with "donation" requests.
5) have plays in MM, PB, and state lotteries...sure, winning 50 million plus is most everyone's dream, 5 million will also set one up for financial freedom.
6) invest in stocks, mutual funds, small business, and real estate for retirement...play the lottery for chance to dream.
7) don't get caught up in the hype or think that your good fortune has made you smarter overnight...doing so will likely see you featured in a future episode of "Curse of the Lottery".
8) jackpot amount doesn't matter until you actually win;jackpot amount prior to winning draw is nothing more than marketing tool for the lottery.
Play for every drawing to renew your dreams or save your money.
I choose to renew my dreams.
"My one relative was able to share in the moment and it was wonderful, but then we had to put him on a plane and tell him to be quiet for a week or two"
...
the rest of the story probably goes like this: we drugged his wine, and trundled him off on a private plane out to a deserted island, we are air dropping supplies on a weekly basis, until we can figure out how to keep our win-news contained...
Congratulations to the winners.....
Them there's wise words.
Roger that.
my favorite is #8...jackpot amount doesn't matter until you actually win;jackpot amount prior to winning draw is nothing more than marketing tool for the lottery.
I'm really tired of hearing stories like this "In this case, I just happened to be at a store and picked up a Quick Pick ticket."
It's like the only people who win are the people who just "happened" to be somewhere, and just "happened" to play when they never do, or just "happened" to have $1 left over after buying a candy bar, or just "happened" to be walking home and got the "urge" to play the game for the first time ever. One of these days, I want to hear about 1 person with 500 bucks, walking into a store and buying a bunch of tickets and being the sole jackpot winner.
Every winner has to be someone who found 4 quarters on the ground walking home after conveniently missing the 2 o'clock bus and decided to go against all their morals and buy 1 ticket after another player cut in front of them in the store line. And the only reason why they were out in the first place is because someone at their job called in sick and they had to fill in.
namely me.
LOL I want to hear someone saying that and then quoting LP as their source.