Deadline to claim prize passes a year after the milestone drawing
By Kate Northrop
ROCKVILLE, Md. — The nation's first winning $10 million Powerball Double Play ticket sold in Maryland went unclaimed earlier this week after a full year of waiting for the historical winner to come forward.
On the night of Sept. 27, 2021, a lottery player in Maryland made history when they bought a Powerball ticket with the Double Play option and won the very first $10 million top prize from the add-on feature's extra drawing.
Six months later on Monday, the ticket expired and the prize money went unclaimed.
Lottery winners in Maryland have 182 days from the draw date to claim their winning ticket before it expires. Since no one claimed the $10 million top prize by 4:00 pm on Monday, the money went back to the state.
The Maryland Lottery put out a reminder in February that the ticket would expire in a month. Since the ticket was sold at Rockville Exxon on Rockville Pike in Rockville last year, the only thing Lottery heard was "crickets."
While winning tickets do expire from time to time, Lottery spokesperson Seth Elkin said that it's rare for a large prize like this one to go unclaimed.
"It happens very infrequently with a big winner," Elkin told Bethesda Beat. "By far, most of the unclaimed prizes that occur are for smaller amounts."
As per state law, the $10 million prize will go back to the Lottery's prize fund, which will contribute to future lottery prizes.
Lastly, the Lottery encouraged players to check their tickets to see if they won and to sign the back of their tickets to prevent someone from claiming the prize.
Awe poor thing. This is one drawback to Double Play. A player may focus on the main draw numbers. And forget about the second draw.
Ticket Hold Doesn't Even Know!: Easy come, Easy Go!
That's a bummer, but at least MD puts unclaimed prize money back into the prize fund for the players, unlike other states that pass it along to the state.
Doesn't hurt to schlep those tickets to the scanner at the store. People play lottery on a whim, without considering the possibility of the ticket being worth millions. They fold it and put it next to the snot rag in their pocket and it gets thrown away.
Someone didn't sleep at a Holiday Inn Express or have their V8
On the night of Sept. 27, 2021
One year later on Monday,
I'm guessing you meant six months later.
That's a bummer!
* Perhaps, as prince of thieves likes to say " winning is too easy." This Maryland resident decided to " catch & release" to prove prince's point.
That state has never sold a losing ticket.
As much as these tickets are costing, people need to check their tickets.👀
No pun intended😉
I hope they don't go back to Rockville and waste another year.
What's double play?
You got that right