Michigan railroad engineer claims $337M Powerball lottery jackpot

he picked the same power ball twice randomly. when I was trying my luck that way, I think I actually paid attention that numbers are not the same. Does it mean I wasn't  doing it randomly, since I was paying attention?

Hmmm, I gotta try it again being drunk, so I can be sure I'm not in control of my hands while they are busy picking the numbers.

Congrats.  Hope he's married or at least taken.  Or else he will be getting marriage proposals left and right from women (breaking tradition).

Todd, you beat me to it!  Good acquisition rdgrnr.

I'm glad he didn't use any quick picks, otherwise the win won't be legit.

Every time I see a lottery winner smiling at a press conference I can't help but think that's probably going to be the last time they'll ever be happy. It's the last moment before that sweet innocence is lost forever. Little do they know that putting themselves out there like that will be the single worst decision of their life.

More often than not, going public means chaos, misery, and even death.

Includes video report

A 44-year-old Michigan railroad engineer said he quit his job and told familly members to do the same when he learned he had won the third-largest winner's share ever for a U.S. lottery drawing.

Donald Lawson was accompanied by his two daughters and his mother, whom he jokingly called "Mama Warbucks," when he was introduced as the winner of the multi-state Powerball lottery on Friday.

"I'm a millionaire now, but I'll still eat at McDonald's," Lawson told a news conference in the Michigan capital of Lansing. "I don't like filet mignon or lobster."

Lawson, who said he had played the lottery "too much" in the past, quit his job the day he learned that he was the winner. And he told all of his close family members to retire, "and they had no problem with that."

He chose to take his money all at once rather than to take annual payments that would have added up to $337 million. Instead he will get a payout of $224.6 million, which will be $158.7 million after federal and Michigan taxes.

Lawson lives in Lapeer, Michigan, about 60 miles (97 kilometres) north of Detroit, where he bought his winning lottery ticket for $2 at a Sunoco gas station and convenience store.

He said he filled out his own lottery entry rather than let a machine make his picks, and used no system to select his winning numbers — 6, 27, 46, 51 and 56, with a Powerball of 21.

"I didn't really pick 'em," he said. "My hand just went."

He said he checked his numbers by looking online once someone told him that the winning ticket had been purchased at the local Sunoco station.

Lawson said he read the numbers backward and once he realized he was holding the single winning ticket, "I kind of lost my breath."

Lawson grew up in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and moved to Lapeer 10 years ago. He is going to move away from Lapeer, but he did not say where, although he did say he has always wanted to travel.

"Now I can go anywhere in the world I want, so that's what I'm going to do," he said.

His mother, whose name was not given, was asked whether she thought her son would handle his new fortune well.

"We come from poor people," she said. "He knows the value of a dollar."

VIDEO: Watch the press conference

(Click to display full-size in gallery)Donald Lawson of Lapeer with his $337 million check presented to him Friday at the Michigan Lottery in Lansing.

(Click to display full-size in gallery)Donald Lawson's $337 million winning ticket.

(Click to display full-size in gallery)Donald Lawson (L) of Lapeer with Michigan Lottery Commissioner Scott Bowen and Lawson's $337 million check.

Living the dream instead of chasing the dream....congratulations.

LOL, that reminded me of somebody here who said his luck was so bad that the lottery clerk hands him his tickets already torn up.

Lmao,I would love to get behind the counter and do that to someone with a straight face. That would be so funny on camera.

yup, exactly my point. Which means you weren't doing randomly, but rather picking them with some kind of thought. Unlike this guy, or so he says.

I keep all of my tickets for this very reason, even if I know they aren't a winner. I have OCD like that, where if I read the winning numbers and they don't match, I still get paranoid that mine may be a winner. You can't be too safe, ha!

he picked the same power ball twice randomly. when I was trying my luck that way, I think I actually paid attention that numbers are not the same. Does it mean I wasn't  doing it randomly, since I was paying attention?

Hmmm, I gotta try it again being drunk, so I can be sure I'm not in control of my hands while they are busy picking the numbers.

Includes video report

A 44-year-old Michigan railroad engineer said he quit his job and told familly members to do the same when he learned he had won the third-largest winner's share ever for a U.S. lottery drawing.

Donald Lawson was accompanied by his two daughters and his mother, whom he jokingly called "Mama Warbucks," when he was introduced as the winner of the multi-state Powerball lottery on Friday.

"I'm a millionaire now, but I'll still eat at McDonald's," Lawson told a news conference in the Michigan capital of Lansing. "I don't like filet mignon or lobster."

Lawson, who said he had played the lottery "too much" in the past, quit his job the day he learned that he was the winner. And he told all of his close family members to retire, "and they had no problem with that."

He chose to take his money all at once rather than to take annual payments that would have added up to $337 million. Instead he will get a payout of $224.6 million, which will be $158.7 million after federal and Michigan taxes.

Lawson lives in Lapeer, Michigan, about 60 miles (97 kilometres) north of Detroit, where he bought his winning lottery ticket for $2 at a Sunoco gas station and convenience store.

He said he filled out his own lottery entry rather than let a machine make his picks, and used no system to select his winning numbers — 6, 27, 46, 51 and 56, with a Powerball of 21.

"I didn't really pick 'em," he said. "My hand just went."

He said he checked his numbers by looking online once someone told him that the winning ticket had been purchased at the local Sunoco station.

Lawson said he read the numbers backward and once he realized he was holding the single winning ticket, "I kind of lost my breath."

Lawson grew up in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and moved to Lapeer 10 years ago. He is going to move away from Lapeer, but he did not say where, although he did say he has always wanted to travel.

"Now I can go anywhere in the world I want, so that's what I'm going to do," he said.

His mother, whose name was not given, was asked whether she thought her son would handle his new fortune well.

"We come from poor people," she said. "He knows the value of a dollar."

VIDEO: Watch the press conference

(Click to display full-size in gallery)Donald Lawson of Lapeer with his $337 million check presented to him Friday at the Michigan Lottery in Lansing.

(Click to display full-size in gallery)Donald Lawson's $337 million winning ticket.

(Click to display full-size in gallery)Donald Lawson (L) of Lapeer with Michigan Lottery Commissioner Scott Bowen and Lawson's $337 million check.