NC woman misses Powerball drawing, wins $2 million in the next one

Jun 2, 2021, 1:21 pm (17 comments)

Powerball

Turns out, the timing was right for this lucky winner

By Kate Northrop

It's a common fear among lottery players that your numbers would be picked in a drawing you did not enter, but one North Carolina woman could not have had better timing after missing a Powerball drawing and winning a $2 million prize in the next one.

Elizabeth Johnson of Lucama did not buy her Powerball ticket in time for the drawing on Wed., May 19, 2021, but that fateful error earned her $2 million in the one on Sat., May 22, 2021.

Johnson, who works as an interpreter, had a particularly busy day last Wednesday and rushed to buy an Online Play ticket for that night's Powerball drawing. However, she missed the 9:57 pm cutoff by one minute. Lucky for her, the Quick Pick she bought was valid for the next drawing on Saturday.

Since she thought she bought her ticket in time for Wednesday's drawing, she was stunned to find out that she had won $2 million in a drawing she never believed she entered.

"It was definitely a shock!" Johnson exclaimed. "When I got the message saying that I had won, I thought, 'Well, I didn't even play tonight.'"

Johnson had matched all five white balls to win a second-tier prize of $1 million. She had upgraded her ticket to a $3 Power Play ticket, doubling her prize when the 2X multiplier was drawn.

The numbers for the drawing on Sat., May 22, 2021 were 3, 19, 27, 37, 40, and Powerball 8. The odds of matching all five white balls are about 1 in 11.69 million.

The lucky winner visited North Carolina Lottery headquarters in Raleigh to claim her prize on Thursday. After federal and state taxes, she took home a grand total of $1,415,001. With her winnings, she said she plans on buying a house and taking her family to a fun destination.

"The kids want to go to Disneyland," Johnson told the Lottery. "We've never been and now we'll get to."

Currently, the Powerball jackpot sits at $268 million as an annuity for tonight's drawing. According to USA Mega, the cash value is $184.2 million. The odds of winning the jackpot in Powerball are about 1 in 292 million.

Lottery Post Staff

Comments

Lynn-Lynn's avatarLynn-Lynn

God is good

billybucks

Interesting that she kept the ticket in her possession from Thursday to Saturday after thinking she lost the Wednesday one. I guess she overlooked the date on the ticket when she checked it on Thursday. Most would toss it unless they noticed the date but she didn't do either apparently.

MsBee18

Not sure how she handles her tickets. I normally throw my losers away one a week. But before I toss them I scan each one to confirm if they're a winner or not. Congratulations to her on 2 million dollar win.

Bleudog101

Nice story...and she got the Powerplay!  Extra dollar paid off handsomely.

paymentplan-man

Quote: Originally posted by Lynn-Lynn on Jun 2, 2021

God is good

ALL THE TIME

HaveABall's avatarHaveABall

Actually, this second prize winner bought the ticket online from her state's lottery headquarters account. The account sends an email message when you win.  Those electronic tickets don't get deleted.

Congratulations to this lottery 'house calls' Powerball's power play winner!

billybucks

Quote: Originally posted by HaveABall on Jun 2, 2021

Actually, this second prize winner bought the ticket online from her state's lottery headquarters account. The account sends an email message when you win.  Those electronic tickets don't get deleted.

Congratulations to this lottery 'house calls' Powerball's power play winner!

Of course. I missed that it was an online purchase which is clearly stated in the article. Maybe there is an upside to online ticket purchasing.

positano

It says she played online (i.e. through internet). So she did not received a printed ticket. The system told hem she had won ....

positano

Quote: Originally posted by MsBee18 on Jun 2, 2021

Not sure how she handles her tickets. I normally throw my losers away one a week. But before I toss them I scan each one to confirm if they're a winner or not. Congratulations to her on 2 million dollar win.

She bought the ticket online, through internet, and received an automatic email notification ....

Bleudog101

Quote: Originally posted by positano on Jun 3, 2021

She bought the ticket online, through internet, and received an automatic email notification ....

I missed the on-line part!   Received my notification this morning of a bank breaking $12 win on Powerball with Powerplay from last night's drawing.

MsBee18

Quote: Originally posted by positano on Jun 3, 2021

She bought the ticket online, through internet, and received an automatic email notification ....

I'm thinking about online lottery. So basically online lottery takes the responsibility away from the customer and puts it it on the lottery. Not sure how I feel about that. I prefer a paper ticket myself. But if the lottery stores the ticket online and notify you of a prize who can beat that? That removes lost tickets or unclaimed smaller wins that would otherwise be tossed in the trash bin. Customer does practically nothing but sign in and click a few buttons. Online buyers should pay a premium over the regular ticket cost for convenience really. Thought I'd share :))

CDanaT's avatarCDanaT

Quote: Originally posted by Bleudog101 on Jun 3, 2021

I missed the on-line part!   Received my notification this morning of a bank breaking $12 win on Powerball with Powerplay from last night's drawing.

$12 ?????  Holy smokes Bleudog,you are rockin' !!! Congrats on that massive transfer of wealth  Cheers

Bleudog101

Quote: Originally posted by CDanaT on Jun 3, 2021

$12 ?????  Holy smokes Bleudog,you are rockin' !!! Congrats on that massive transfer of wealth  Cheers

Thanks for the laugh...now all that money wasted @ Caesars S IN yesterday could've went for lottery tickets.   Well four draws of PB/PP were purchased in Indiana on the way there.

noise-gate

It's at times like these that " advance plays" would have you covered. That's a very nice win!

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