Lots of players were drawn to the giant Powerball jackpot in recent weeks, and one Oakville man managed to carve off $1 million of that money with a Missouri Lottery Quick Pick ticket.
Christopher Henson, 30, said he bought three tickets for the May 15 jackpot, which was estimated at $360 million. Henson and his fiancée, Amy, picked one set of numbers and added two Quick Pick tickets. They matched all five white-ball numbers on one of the Quick Picks to win $1 million. Henson said they aren’t regular players.
“Not too frequent,” he responded in a news release to a question about how often he plays. “Usually, when it’s the big numbers.”
Henson added that he watched the drawing that night, but didn’t realize he was a winner until he was reading a television station’s website the next day. The website stated that the winning ticket had been sold at Telegraph Liquors, 5661 Telegraph Road, in Oakville. Since he bought his tickets there, he gave them a call.
“So, I called them up and asked him if he had any idea of who it was,” he recalled. “He said, ‘Well, did you win it?'”
Henson replied negatively, but after checking his numbers, he realized he was, in fact, a millionaire.
“It was pretty jaw-dropping,” he stated.
Henson said the money would be used to pay for his upcoming wedding, fund college accounts for their children and to purchase a new home. He said they would both keep working.
“It’s just a little cushion,” he declared.
He was not upset about missing the big jackpot by one number, stating “winning is winning.”
“You’ve got to play to win,” he added.
The winning Powerball numbers for May 15 were: 2, 11, 26, 34 and 41. The Powerball jackpot grew to nearly $600 million for the next drawing and was won by a player in Florida. Two additional players in Missouri won a $1 million Match 5 prize in that drawing.
Powerball is a multi-lottery Draw Game with jackpots that start at $40 million. For an extra $1 at the time of purchase, players can add Power Play to their ticket and win larger non-jackpot prizes. The Match 5 prize becomes $2 million with Power Play.
Henson is the 16th player to win the $1 million Match 5 prize in Missouri since the game changed in early 2012.