Massachusetts player claimed $500,000 Powerball prize one day before it expired

Aug 19, 2021, 7:32 am (17 comments)

Powerball

By Kate Northrop

DORCHESTER, Mass. — A $500,000 Powerball prize almost went by the wayside, but thankfully the rightful winner from Massachusetts stepped up to claim it just one day before it was due to expire.

Leonard Thomas of South Dennis won $500,000 in a Powerball drawing that took place on Aug. 19, 2020, but he didn't even realize it.

Luckily, he had the ticket tucked away in a safe spot, albeit for nearly a full year, after buying it at the Mobil gas station on Route 134 in South Dennis.

"I heard about a Powerball ticket expiring on the radio and then my nephew told me," Thomas told the Massachusetts Lottery. "I play at that store and have a plastic sleeve that I keep my tickets in. When I heard about the expiring ticket, I looked through the tickets in the sleeve and found a Powerball ticket from August 19, 2020. I had it scanned at a convenience store and the clerk indicated that I had to go to the Lottery to claim the prize."

Thomas, along with his dog Mariah, visited Lottery headquarters in Dorchester on Wednesday to claim his $500,000 Powerball prize right before the deadline.

"What a great reminder to our lottery customers!" State Treasurer and Massachusetts State Lottery Commission Chair Deborah B. Goldberg said in a press release. "We are thrilled that Leonard, and his dog Mariah, saw the announcement about the expiring ticket and were able to cash it in!"

The retailer received a $5,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket, which was a Quick Pick that matched four of the first five numbers plus the Powerball. His purchase included the Power Play option, and since the Power Play multiplier in the drawing was 10X, his $50,000 prize turned out to be $500,000 before taxes.

The winning numbers for the drawing on Aug. 19, 2020 were 13, 23, 47, 55, and 58 with Powerball 23.

The Lottery reminded players that Powerball and other draw game prize winners have one year from the date of the drawing to claim prizes, and that expired lottery prizes become part of the net profit that the Lottery returns to the Commonwealth for distribution to all 351 cities and towns.

Beginning Aug. 23 at 10:59 pm EST, Powerball will hold its first Monday drawing. Also starting Monday is the new Double Play feature, which will debut in 13 Powerball jurisdictions.

Powerball tickets cost $2 per play, except in Idaho, which will include Power Play with every ticket sold, bringing the total price in that state to $3 per play.

Lottery Post Staff

Comments

rcbbuckeye's avatarrcbbuckeye

Good for him that he caught it in time. That would not happen with me, I'm checking my tix right after the draw.

CDanaT's avatarCDanaT

Amen Rcb...... It truly amazes me how some folks treat a potential multi-million dollar document like it's warranty card for a household appliance.

Stat$talker's avatarStat$talker

He ran another risk allowing the store clerk to tell him whether his ticket was a winner, for they often lie to the ticket holder...I always look for a Lottery ticket scanner that allows ME to see scan it, to see if the ticket is a winner or not..but mostly I let my computer check my tickets for each drawing, if I play.

onenumber's avataronenumber

You are so right, always check your own ticket.  How hard is that!!  Store clerks often lie, why take that chance.

Bleudog101

Thanks Todd for running this story, maybe not on my suggestion but that's cool.

 

That's it, if I win the Megabucks Doubler my fox/coon hound dog will be driving home and visiting the newest lottery headquarters.   Don't think she can ride the red line subway though which is steps from the place so would have to drive!

 

Thankfully they instituted an app to scan your tickets on your cellular phone.  We upgraded here, two free phones since the older Android ones would not allow the app to be downloaded.   Some day Massachusetts will allow purchase of tickets over the Internet!

KLC had sent me a FB message last week to be on the look out for some changes and I'll post what it is if it is newsworthy for LP members to know about.

Raven62's avatarRaven62

Party Congrats to the Winner! Party

billybucks

Quote: Originally posted by onenumber on Aug 19, 2021

You are so right, always check your own ticket.  How hard is that!!  Store clerks often lie, why take that chance.

      You hear about the occasional clerk that gets caught somehow doing that. Some are clever enough to give you say 100.00 when you actually won 500.00 or more just to get you out of the store feeling happy and not even thinking that you were scammed. I would say this happens every day to someone in every state. There is no way to determine how many. I do know I have run into clerks who don't mind checking people's ticket especially if they look like an easy mark.

noise-gate

"..but he didn't even realize it"- l say he did. We not idiots!

Mata Garbo

The people who run the lottery in Idaho must be a bunch of "potato" heads. Why would you basically force people to buy the "Powerplay" whether they want it or not? I always buy the Powerplay, but there are a lot of people who never get Powerplay. There should never be a rule that says "your only option is to pay more, or you don't play." This could backfire and leave a lot of officials looking pretty stupid.

No NoAgree with stupid

justadream

I agree... sounds fishy to me !

PrisonerSix

I always check mine the next day. The Louisiana Lottery now has a phone app that will scan the barcode and check the ticket. However, it doesn't always work for some reason, so I often check on the web page as well.

I'm glad he got his jackpot on time. We've had some jackpots in this state expire unclaimed. The theory is someone passing through bought the tickets and never bothered to check them later.

Bleudog101

Well Kentucky lottery thank you for being true to your word.   FB post that Pick 3 & 4 are now available on-line.

GiveFive's avatarGiveFive

The man was luckier than he even knows.

Not only did he claim the ticket one day before it expired, he was also lucky the clerk didn't try to scam him.  To top it all off, the PowerPlay multiplier was 10X.  The 10X multiplier has been drawn in maybe five drawings since October of 2015 when it first began.  (That's a total of 613 drawings)   G5

GiveFive's avatarGiveFive

Quote: Originally posted by PrisonerSix on Aug 19, 2021

I always check mine the next day. The Louisiana Lottery now has a phone app that will scan the barcode and check the ticket. However, it doesn't always work for some reason, so I often check on the web page as well.

I'm glad he got his jackpot on time. We've had some jackpots in this state expire unclaimed. The theory is someone passing through bought the tickets and never bothered to check them later.

On July 31st, 2021 a Florida Fantasy5 jackpot winning Free Ticket worth more than $215,000 was sold in a supermarket in Davie Florida. (That's a whopper of a Fantasy5 jackpot. Usually Fantasy5 jackpots are split among multiple winners, but even when there is just one winner, the prize is less than $200,000)

It's still unclaimed as of yesterday.  In Florida, Fantasy5 winners have six months to claim their prize.  Since June of 2012, there have been 12 unclaimed Free Ticket jackpot winners that have expired.  What is it with people not bothering to check a Free Ticket they won??   

I know it's only been three weeks since the jackpot was won, but with just six months to claim it or forfeit the money, IMHO a $215,000+ jackpot should be claimed ASAP! G5

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