Powerball Double Win
Last Updated: Wednesday 7th August 2013, 15:34
A Powerball player from Kansas must have thought he was a "Wizard of Odds" when he won not one but two $200,000 prizes using identical numbers on separate tickets. The unusual double win took place in the draw held on Saturday 24 February after the lucky player, who has requested anonymity, bought two tickets with exactly the same numbers on each. All numbers except the Powerball itself were matched, resulting in a total win of $400,000.
Powerball is a US lottery played twice a week (every Wednesday and Saturday) in 29 states as well as in the U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia. Players must choose 5 main numbers from 1 to 55 and one red Powerball number from 1 to 42. To win the jackpot all six numbers must be matched, but for those players who manage to match just the five main numbers (and not the Powerball) a prize of $200,000 is awarded.
Any non-jackpot prize, including the $200,000 second-tier prize, can be multiplied using a Power Play number for an additional fee. The player can choose to multiply by 2, 3, 4 or 5 times, potentially turning $200,000 into £1million. To successfully multiply a prize, the player must match the Power Play number selected.
Despite this option, the Kansas winner found another way to multiply his prize - by buying a duplicate ticket! Whilst a double win of this nature is unusual, what's even more unusual is the fact that the tickets weren't bought at the same time or from the same store. The player bought the first ticket from one store, then bought the second ticket from another store with the same numbers just eleven minutes later. Quite why two identical tickets were purchased in this way isn't known, but we're sure he's glad he did!
