For 30 years, she played the same Powerball numbers. She just won $133 million
Judy Finchum never has to think when she buys Powerball tickets: She’s been playing the same numbers for nearly 30 years.
But now she’ll probably never need to play the birthday dates of family members — her brother, sister, daughter, ex-husband and her own — ever again. Finchum won the $133.2 million jackpot in the Colorado Powerball.
Finchum said during a press conference where she was presented with her winnings that she had been checking the winning numbers Sunday morning over a cup of coffee. When she saw her numbers, she began to “freak out.”
“I didn’t trust the phone by itself,” Finchum said, so she got her laptop to check the Colorado Powerball website. And sure enough, the numbers were the same. Then she ran out to her car to retrieve the ticket from where she always keeps her lottery slips, the visor of her car.
“I better run out there and make sure I can find that ticket!” Finchum said she thought after she realized she’d won.
Then she woke her slumbering husband — who thought she was having a heart attack because she was clutching her chest out of shock — to share the news. He verified that she was seeing the numbers correctly.
So how will they use the money? Finchum said she plans to retire from selling Xerox equipment and real estate, and her husband will get a new truck.
“I need those tires so I can go fishing,” he said of a new model to replace his 1996 Ford.
According to CBS, Finchum and her husband will take the cash option for the prize money because at 67 and 70, they don’t want to take yearly payouts.
Finchum also shared the news early Sunday morning with her daughter, who she called and told to hurry over. On her way, Finchum’s daughter saw on Facebook that the store where her mother always bought her tickets had sold the winning Powerball.
“It’s not only blessing us, it’ll bless our whole families,” Finchum said.
This story was originally published September 19, 2017 at 8:02 PM with the headline "For 30 years, she played the same Powerball numbers. She just won $133 million."