December 19, 2008

$200,000 Winning PowerBall® Ticket Claimed

One of the $200,000 winning PowerBall® tickets sold in Rhode Island for the $50 million drawing on December 17 has been claimed just in time for Christmas.

The winner, from North Easton, MA, came in to the Rhode Island Lottery validations office to collect his winnings this morning after reading his winning numbers in the paper and thinking they looked familiar.  He had won on a multi-draw ticket and picked his numbers based on family members’ birthdates.  According to the winner, those same family members tease him about playing, but after hearing about his big win, they’ll change their minds.  

The winning ticket was sold from Gold Mart at 1531 Newport Ave., Pawtucket. 

The $200,000 winning ticket matched all five numbers, but not the PowerBall® number. 
The winner did not purchase the Power Play® feature for an additional dollar on the wager.  If he had opted for PowerPlay®, his $200,000 prize would have been multiplied by 4, Wednesday’s PowerPlay® number, to equal $800,000. 

Saturday’s estimated PowerBall® jackpot is $57 million.