COLUMBIA, SC (April 4, 2008) – While sitting in the lobby at the Lottery’s Columbia claims center, a wife turned and remarked to her husband, “I always said I was going to win.” She was right.
On their lunch hour on Thursday, the Columbia couple brought in a Powerball® ticket worth $800,000. Leading up to that moment their emotions ran from amazement to doubt.
That morning at work, the husband pulled out a scrap of paper where he had jotted down the previous night’s winning numbers. He looked and realized the first three numbers matched the numbers printed on his ticket. Then he stopped. He remembered the first Powerball® ticket he and his wife purchased. When his wife read the numbers off, the first three matched.
“So I thought, o.k. I’ve got three numbers again. It hit me when I looked and saw the last two numbers matched,” he said. “Unbelievable.”
He immediately called his wife, who was in her office at the University of South Carolina. She remembers him saying, “I can’t believe this. I’m shaking.” She checked the numbers posted online. But the two, both state employees, still weren’t convinced. That led them to the claims center waiting area.
The ticket was confirmed a winner. The Columbia couple, who wish to remain anonymous, matched all five white ball numbers but missed the red Powerball® number in Wednesday night’s drawing (1-34-37-44-55, PB 33). They purchased the PowerPlay® option, and their $200,000 winnings were multiplied by “4” to $800,000.
Their winning story almost belonged to someone else.
According to the wife, she was going to buy a birthday card for a friend when her husband suggested lottery tickets instead. She bought a couple of scratch-off tickets and the Powerball® ticket at the Publix Super Market #883 in Columbia.
“For a second, I thought about giving the Powerball® ticket as a gift,” she said.
Instead the couple is making plans. Both want to keep working, invest their winnings, and continue playing Powerball®. As for this weekend, they will go out and celebrate over a nice dinner.
“It is wonderful to win,” the wife said. Her husband shook his head in agreement.
On their lunch hour on Thursday, the Columbia couple brought in a Powerball® ticket worth $800,000. Leading up to that moment their emotions ran from amazement to doubt.
That morning at work, the husband pulled out a scrap of paper where he had jotted down the previous night’s winning numbers. He looked and realized the first three numbers matched the numbers printed on his ticket. Then he stopped. He remembered the first Powerball® ticket he and his wife purchased. When his wife read the numbers off, the first three matched.
“So I thought, o.k. I’ve got three numbers again. It hit me when I looked and saw the last two numbers matched,” he said. “Unbelievable.”
He immediately called his wife, who was in her office at the University of South Carolina. She remembers him saying, “I can’t believe this. I’m shaking.” She checked the numbers posted online. But the two, both state employees, still weren’t convinced. That led them to the claims center waiting area.
The ticket was confirmed a winner. The Columbia couple, who wish to remain anonymous, matched all five white ball numbers but missed the red Powerball® number in Wednesday night’s drawing (1-34-37-44-55, PB 33). They purchased the PowerPlay® option, and their $200,000 winnings were multiplied by “4” to $800,000.
Their winning story almost belonged to someone else.
According to the wife, she was going to buy a birthday card for a friend when her husband suggested lottery tickets instead. She bought a couple of scratch-off tickets and the Powerball® ticket at the Publix Super Market #883 in Columbia.
“For a second, I thought about giving the Powerball® ticket as a gift,” she said.
Instead the couple is making plans. Both want to keep working, invest their winnings, and continue playing Powerball®. As for this weekend, they will go out and celebrate over a nice dinner.
“It is wonderful to win,” the wife said. Her husband shook his head in agreement.
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