There is a man in South Carolina who has been keeping a big secret for the past five days.
Well, he did tell his dog. And, we assume, his wife.
He's probably hoping his recent good fortune stays a secret, but this will be one mighty hard life-changing event to keep under wraps.
South Carolina lottery officials said a man showed up at their office Monday with the winning ticket to last Wednesday's $399.4 million Powerball jackpot.
In a news release, lottery officials said the man was from the Columbia area.
And that's it. They didn't say how old he was or give his name. South Carolina doesn't divulge the identities of lottery winners to the public if they don't want it to be known.
"I can't tell you what it feels like to know someone has been that fortunate and that lucky," Paula Harper Bethea, executive director of the South Carolina Educational Lottery said last week, calling the win a "wonderful shot in the arm for our state."
Officials said he told them he was driving home when his wife called and told him they needed hot dog buns. So he pulled into a Murphy USA convenience store but there were no buns.
There was a sign for the lottery, so — for only the second time — he played, putting down a $20.
On Thursday, he was at home with just his dog when he checked the numbers.
And he had the ticket with the winning numbers: 7, 10, 22, 32, 35, with Powerball number 19.
One that flies in the face of the formidable 1-in-175,223,510 odds.
The winner told lottery officials that it was only the second time he had ever played the game.
The Murphy store will receive a cool $50,000 for selling the ticket. The release didn't say whether the man chose a 29-year annuity plan or took a cash prize of $223 million.
Wednesday's haul was the fifth-largest lottery prize in U.S. history, and the biggest prize ever in South Carolina.
The biggest payload in American history was $665 million in the Mega Millions game in March 2012. The greatest Powerball jackpot was the $590.5 million won with a single ticket in Florida this past May.
So now people in Columbia might be a whole lot nicer to each other. After all, you never know if that guy you just served dinner to is worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Congrats to him! Didn't know SC allowed anonymity.
Me either, it's not listed in with the anonymous states, but good for him.
I was thinking had it been a pool of people that all worked somewhere and if one of them wanted a press confernce it would have blown it for all of them - not only all of the people in a pool but all of the people that worked at the same place.
Glad this one was a one person jackpot.
Eventually, someone in the neighborhood will notice he and his wife being out-of-town more often then usual:)
It is nice to congratulation such a lucky beastard, but this must drive many long time lottery players crazy...the fact that It was only his second time playing the lottery, he told officials. k
That is the way luck goes. Luck does not matter how long you have been at a certain endeavor. Luck does not care about your system or your intuition. When luck shines it ray of light on you, just be happy and be grateful for the prize. And stay anonymous instead of showing up on the Today Show to give tips on how to win the lottery.
That is the way ALL Lotteries should conduct someone elses business...!
Congrats. ANON...IN S.C.? Beware of the freedom of information act.
He wasn't cheap, he didn't mind spending $20.
There was a guy who once lived in my county that owned a couple Mc Donald franchises which he and his wife actively managed. He won a lottery jackpot and he didn't play very often either but the time I saw him buying tickets it was $20 worth too.
The thing I remembered most about him was when he served hamburgers along side his crews at his stores, you wouldn't have never guessed he was the owner and he acted the same way after he won the jackpot. He later retired, sold his stores and moved south.
1 Ticket
1 Winner
Awesome!
Cant agree more!
Congratulation to the winner
Good thing she called about them hot dog buns.
But I betcha they ain't havin' hot dogs for supper anymore.
Maybe he had an extra $20 to spend on the lottery,many of us don't,but that doesn't make us cheap.
I'm happy for what's his name.
I agree. It would be nice if all states would allow you to collect anonymously.
good for him. i hope he takes the annuity.
Congratulations to this massive, single ticket holding, Powerball jackpot winner!
Can't help but wonder if this winner's stories about searching for hot dog buns and being only a second time Powerball game player were true.
If one or both were true, did the man spend the full $20 on Powerball lottery tickets, or did he get change in order to buy those hot dog buns with? Did this winner ever come home that night with hot dog buns [and did his wife care]?
Kudos!
Looks like I'm not the only one who gets annoyed when the pack of hot dogs outnumbers the pack of hot dog buns!
Nope, as far as I'm concerned, this isn't anywhere near approaching 'great news'.
I hope nobody ever knows but his family and his lawyers (yes, he's going to need lawyers).
Keep it private, the minute some folk find out you won the lottery- your cover is blown and you added to the " America's most wanted" list.
I didn't know one could claim anonymous on a jackpot win either in old SC..on a second tier prize yes but I hadn't figured for a jackpot.. Congrats.. I hope I hit the mega millions..
"The winner told lottery officials that it was only the second time he had ever played the game".
Screw you!!!!! I'm sorry I'm not happy for him!!!
There's plenty more chances to win in the future.
I sure wish I had his luck though.
Congrats to the winner and stay safe.
heres a spare box
we have narrowed it don to %50 of the SC lotto playing public, we know he aint a she.
and its someone who would shop or drive past that particular store, maybe only 10k males bought tickets at that store on that draw?
LOL.
That's too funny!
It was mentioned in a scratchoff story from 2012. https://www.lotterypost.com/thread/252155
2nd time playin'
Congrats
They need to keep playing.
They could win 5 or 6 jackpots by this time next year.
The winner told lottery officials that it was only the second time he had ever played the game.
This does not mean that he is new to gambling. He could be those people who play pick 3 & 4 or cash 5 games. I know some people who play scratch offs exclusively.
Regardless, I am happy for him.
All it takes is one journalist, person who believes they have an interest in the ticket, believed creditor, or just random citizen questioning the legitimacy of the lottery drawing and the SC Lottery will release the information after Freedom of Information request. Most states, they will release it to media if they call.
This does not mean you can claim anonymously in SC. The states that allow for anonymity state the option explicity. Just because the winner *wants* to remain anonymous, does not mean he can remain anonymous.
An example of North Dakota's lottery law:
I am not sure I believe a person who only played once before would spend that much $. Maybe one ticket or two.
But good for him for winning!
if i ever win a jackpot i'm a gonna say this is the first time i ever played the lottery
so i can get fan mail
Yeah lol make sure you have a juicy story to go with it as well because that is what people want to hear. Thats is why we elect morons haha people want juicy promises instead of practical ones.
This is correct. Most people don't realize SC is not a true anonymous. Any SC citizen can file a Freedmon of Information request. I think this is the first winner (out of five that I remember) that did not come out publicly.
That was a smart choice and his state allows it. Now, if only I could that 160m tonight.
I agree! I guess he thought it was more believable than claiming it was his first time. Nevertheless, good luck to him and his family as I'm sure they'll need it.
papers to see who won the jackpot.
Media has done this thousands of times actually, where do you think they get names sometimes. There are even some articles where the winners wished to remain anonymous claimed with a trust, but a paragraph later the name of the beneficiaries/settlors of the trust are revealed.
Never heard of this, please post links to the articles...
I can think of one off the top of my head.....one of the winners of the $587.5 million Powerball in 2012. The guy from Arizona...lottery said he wished to remain anonymous, but the Associated Press filed public records request and revealed his name.
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/12/powerball_3.html
http://abcnews.go.com/US/ariz-powerball-jackpot-winner-identified-matthew-good/story?id=17930720
This story does not match up with what I was stating...
The only states that appear to allow their lottery to keep a winner’s identity secret are
Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, North Dakota and Ohio, according to the site.
Arizona is not listed here!!!
This man tried to stay anonymous in a state that doesn't allow it.
Has anyone been outed from the anonymous states listed above?
I still have not heard of that...
The liberal press will always try to out you just to get a story even if it costs you your life.
Then they'll do a story on your mysterious murder.
Maybe reread this thread? I said that those states (DE, KS, MD, ND, OH) that allow anonymity are the only ones that state explicity in their laws that a person can remain anonymous.
Some people in this thread believe that South Carolina is an anonymous state because in the Lottery Post article that we are discussing, this person wishes to remain anonymous. I've been saying throughout that they can wish it all day long, but that anonymity is not allowed (much like Arizona and all the other states sans those 5 above mentioned) and that their name will come out with a freedom of information request.
CONGRATULATIONs!!!! I think All lottery players should be able to stay anonymous to the public.
Interesting belief to have. I'm more inclined to want to know the draws and players are legitimate. Will though support Lottery winners being left to privacy after claiming and NOT being hounded. Let them have their five minutes of fame and then quietly march along to their final place of peace.
Can't they get his name from a Freedom of Information request? Like that guy in Kentucky. The lottery said they'd keep his name confidential but didn't tell him anyone could get the info by asking the state for it. They did and he was 'outed' in no time. And a little honked off too.
Missed your question. A few years ago a winner in Kentucky was outed after the lottery told him 'they' wouldn't release his name. However, a records request by media outed him shortly after he won.
ROFLMAO. That's funny. I've never even thought of doing that, but it definitely makes for a great story.
I like watching the press conferences and seeing the tickets. There's no need to post their real names and addresses. It's good advertising for State lotterys.
Now I know it's possible to remain anonymous after winning in lottery in SC. It is good for the winner, he doesn't have to risk his safety. However, for the public if they don't know the winner they surely doubt if that winner really exist.