Winner is "sure glad" they started adding the feature to their tickets

By Kate Northrop

CRESTWOOD, Ky. — A self-proclaimed "creature of habit" from Kentucky stepped forward with a $10 million winning Powerball Double Play ticket earlier this month, offering advice to fellow lottery players who enjoy playing for big jackpots.

The Kentucky Lottery announced last week that an anonymous Kentucky resident has claimed a $10 million prize from a Powerball Double Play drawing.

For one player, buying lottery tickets is not much of an ordeal, nor is there much of a coincidence accompanying the story. In fact, playing the lottery is a rather mundane part of this winner's daily routine that doesn't take up much headspace.

"I'm a creature of habit," the winner told the Lottery. "I purchase my tickets before I go to work."

One day, the player noticed that the Lottery vending machine had started allowing them to add the Double Play feature to their Powerball ticket.

"I didn't start playing it right away," the winner said to Lottery officials. In fact, it was only four months ago that they had started adding Double Play to their plays.

"It just popped up on the screen to add it, and I thought, 'I think I'll try,'" they continued. "I'm sure glad I did!"

Having purchased a ticket for the June 24 drawing, the player woke up the next morning and discovered some incredible news.

"I got up and checked my phone and it said somebody had won the Powerball," the winner recalled. "I said, 'Oh my gosh,' and it said, 'Double Play,' and I was like, 'Oh my gosh.'

First, they took note of the winning numbers: 1, 31, 33, 54, and 60, with Powerball number 26.

"I wrote the numbers down and I went and got my ticket," the winner continued. "I looked at my ticket and looked at the numbers and I said, 'Really, I can't believe this.' I sat there for about 10 minutes looking at the numbers and looking at my ticket and it was right. I was overwhelmed and excited. Now I can retire!"

After discovering the win, they took a few weeks to seek legal and financial advice from professionals. One official prize claim later, the winner walked away with $7.2 million after taxes.

They told Lottery officials that they plan on retiring and traveling with the funds, but they did not leave Lottery headquarters without first offering fellow players some advice.

"Buy Double Play. You have better chances of winning," the winner urged.

For selling the winning ticket, Circle K on West State Highway 22 in Crestwood received a $100,000 bonus from the Lottery on Aug. 8.

"At Circle K, we are dedicated to offering products, services and programs that make our customers' lives a little easier every day," said Gayle Hughes, Circle K Regional Director of Operations. "We are proud to be an authorized Kentucky Lottery retailer. It's a way to make the store experience for our customers even more fun and exciting. We couldn't be happier that one of our valued customers has won 'such a big prize' of $10 million after buying a Powerball Double Play ticket in our Crestwood area store."

Kentucky players first had access to the Double Play feature in November 2023, and it became available for purchase online earlier this year.

"We are so excited about this $10 million win, both for our player and for longtime retailer Crestwood Circle K," Kentucky Lottery President and CEO Mary Harville said. "We began offering this game add-on feature in November, and fortunately, it didn't take long for one of our players to make history by hitting the Powerball Double Play top prize. This winning experience sends a great message to our players: you can win a life-changing $10 million top prize with Double Play!"

This is only the fourth Double Play win nationwide since the feature first became available to any jurisdiction. Two of the wins took place in Florida, and the very first win was recorded in Maryland.

The next Powerball annuity jackpot estimate for the drawing on Sat., Aug. 17 currently stands at $35 million.

Powerball is played in 45 states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays at 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time.  Tickets cost $2 each.

Powerball lottery results are published within minutes of the drawing at USA Mega (www.usamega.com).  The USA Mega website provides lottery players in-depth information about the United States's two biggest multi-state lottery games, Mega Millions and Powerball.