Special combinations nearly abandoned, then win $250,000

By Kate Northrop

DALLAS, N.C. — A North Carolina man won a $250,000 Powerball prize using a set of family lottery numbers he nearly stopped playing just weeks before the big win.

A North Carolina lottery player used the same numbers for years before he almost gave up on them, but he is sure glad he didn't.

James Mosley of High Shoals had been playing the same combination of family birthdays for years when he recently found himself ready to call it quits.

"I've played the same numbers for years and three weeks ago I thought about stopping but my wife convinced me not to," Mosley laughed with North Carolina Lottery officials.

The numbers themselves have been close to home for a long time. Mosley said he plays a combination that pulls together his birthday, his wife's birthday, and the birthdays of three of their grandchildren.

Mosley bought his lucky $3 ticket for the Sept. 23 Powerball drawing from Will's Food Stores on Dallas High Shoals Highway in Dallas. He matched four white ball numbers and the red Powerball number to secure a $50,000 prize.

Because he had purchased the $1 Power Play add-on, he quintupled his $50,000 prize to $250,000 since the drawn multiplier that night was 5X. The winning numbers in the draw were 5, 15, 26, 29, and 30, with red Powerball 14.

Convincing his wife that the win was real turned out to be its own hurdle. Even after sending her pictures of the ticket, she thought he was lying to her.

"I called my wife to tell her and she didn't believe it," Mosley recalled in a press release, "She said, 'Don't be lying to me.'"

"I said, 'James, don't do this to me,'" his wife said.

Mosley added: "Then she wanted to call everybody and tell them. I'm like, 'Don't tell nobody. Not until we find out for sure.'"

The couple arrived at Lottery headquarters on Friday to claim his prize, receiving $180,026 after required federal and state taxes.

"Do I get to keep that as a souvenir?" the winner earnestly asked Lottery staff when handed the oversized commemorative check.

He plans to use his winnings to remodel his home.

The next Powerball annuity jackpot estimate for the drawing on Saturday, Oct. 17 currently stands at $600 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.