Sell me a winning Powerball ticket, man urged NC store cashier before big lottery win
A North Carolina man scored a Powerball prize after dining at a Charlotte Waffle House and buying sodas across the street at a convenience store, state lottery officials said Thursday.
“Sell me one of those Powerball winning tickets,” the man urged the store cashier, according to a lottery news release.
“‘I’ll try my best,’” the cashier replied.
Johnny Miller’s $3 Power Play ticket matched four white balls and the Powerball in Wednesday’s drawing, which won him $50,000, officials said.
“His prize doubled to $100,000 when the 2X multiplier was drawn,” according to the release.
Miller beat odds of 1 in 913,129, according to the lottery.
Miller lives in Sparta in the N.C. mountains. He bought the ticket at a Circle K on Sunset Road in Charlotte and netted $70,751 after taxes, according to the release. He’ll put the money into savings, he said.
“I am the happiest man in the world,” Miller said when he claimed his prize at lottery headquarters in Raleigh on Thursday.
The Powerball jackpot climbed to $174 million as an annuity and $125.5 million as cash for Saturday’s drawing, according to the game’s website.. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292 million, according to the site.
This story was originally published July 22, 2021 at 5:59 PM with the headline "Sell me a winning Powerball ticket, man urged NC store cashier before big lottery win."