Chance encounter with family member is winner's lucky charm
By Kate Northrop
ROCHELLE, Ill. — An Illinois lottery winner was grateful this Thanksgiving for the $1 million Powerball prize he won after experiencing a chance encounter with his lucky charm — his grandmother.
An Illinois man is crediting his grandmother for winning a $1 million prize in Powerball.
The player, who requested to remain anonymous under the pseudonym "Grandma is my Lucky Charm!" was already planning on buying a lottery ticket after noticing the Powerball jackpot was sitting at $240 million.
"The $240 million jackpot drawing was that night, but I work late, so I took a quick lunch break to grab a ticket and try my luck," the winner told the Illinois Lottery.
He stopped at Road Ranger on East Highway 38 in Rochelle, but an unexpected meeting turned the mundane errand into anything but.
"When I arrived at the store, I saw a car that looked just like my grandma's," the winner recalled to Lottery staff. "And guess what? It was her car, and she was right by the cash register, checking out."
The random run-in with his family member felt like the beginning of his lucky streak, he continued.
"She ran over and gave me a hug," he said with a grin.
He bought his ticket for the Oct. 11 drawing that evening and miraculously matched all five white ball numbers — 13, 16, 18, 20, and 27 — but missed the red Powerball number 10. The extra $4 he won on another line didn't hurt either.
"I scanned the ticket, and it said, 'You won $1,000,004,'" he recalled. "I didn't believe it, so I scanned it again. That's when I started screaming and hyperventilating. I instantly called my grandma, and her first response was, 'Are you sure you won?' I checked the numbers manually online, and everything matched — except the Powerball."
Now that he's claimed his winnings, he plans on expressing his gratitude for the woman he credits for the win.
"I'm definitely sharing some of this with my grandma," the winner said in a press release. "She's my good luck charm! And I'm going to buy a brand-new car, too."
For selling the winning ticket, the retailer receives a $10,000 bonus from the Lottery, or 1% of the prize amount.
The next Powerball annuity jackpot estimate for the drawing on Saturday, Nov. 29 currently stands at $719 million.
Powerball is currently offered for sale in 45 states, plus Washington, D.C., 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' two biggest multi-state lottery games, Mega Millions and Powerball.
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Nice win but I hardly think running into your grandmother in a convenience store when she obviously lives in the area can be considered a good luck charm and the reason he won. Unless it was a quick pic. Then the time he took to chat with her enabled the lottery machine to circulate it's tumblers at the right time to give him the winning ticket.
Congrats winners, spoil Grandma just a little or a lot.
Too bad he didn't spring for the extra dollar to win 2 million!