Lottery player thinks he won $1,500 Powerball prize — then sister says it’s worth more
Scott MacKenzie went to a lottery retailer in Michigan after a Powerball drawing, curious to see if he was a big winner.
A message popped up when he checked the ticket, telling the Cottrellville player to go to the lottery office. He figured he had won a $1,500 prize or “a smaller prize over $600” since he couldn’t claim it at the retailer, he told Michigan lottery officials.
“I called my sister and had her check the winning numbers to see how much I’d won,” he said. That’s when the two learned he had won much more than $1,500.
MacKenzie matched four of the white balls and the Powerball during the Nov. 30 drawing, lottery officials said in a Dec. 18 news release. He won $200,000 with Power Play, leaving both him and his sister “shocked and excited,” he told officials.
“Winning is a huge blessing that came just in time for the holidays,” he said.
The winner plans to take a vacation and save his winnings but also plans to set part of it aside to keep testing his luck in Powerball.
He purchased his ticket at a Buscemi’s restaurant in Chesterfield, the lottery said.
Cottrellville is about a 50-mile drive northeast from Detroit.
What to know about Powerball
To score the jackpot in the Powerball, a player must match all five white balls and the red Powerball.
The odds of scoring the jackpot prize are 1 in 292,201,338.
Tickets can be bought on the day of the drawing, but sales times and price vary by state.
Drawings are broadcast Saturdays, Mondays and Wednesdays at 10:59 p.m. ET and can be streamed online.
Powerball is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
This story was originally published December 19, 2024 at 2:21 PM with the headline "Lottery player thinks he won $1,500 Powerball prize — then sister says it’s worth more."
