Big game this weekend: Powerball at $200 million

For lottery players, the biggest game this weekend isn’t on the football field. It’s all about the $200 million Powerball jackpot. The Powerball has been rolling since a “perfect ticket” in Maryland won $128.8 million on Christmas Eve. If no one matches all six balls on Saturday, the jackpot could reach $250 million for the next drawing!

Powerball wins of $10,000 were awarded to players from Charlotte, Lansing and Monroe this week. Powerball tickets worth $10,000 in Wednesday’s drawing were sold in Conover and Winston-Salem.

So that’s the skinny on Powerball. But at $23 million, Friday’s Mega Millions jackpot is worth a look, too [Update, Saturday Feb. 4, 10 a.m.: the Mega Millions jackpot rolled to $32 million]. We have a “Mega Millions mystery” on our hands: who bought the $10,000-winning ticket for Tuesday’s drawing at the Kangaroo Express on Fairview Road in Charlotte?

Now, on to the week’s biggest wins. Donald Mercurio of Fayetteville wonthe largest Cash 5 jackpot in Cumberland County history: $461,499 in the Jan. 26 drawing. Another Fayetteville player, Michael Wallace, said he’ll use his $200,000 Extreme Green prize to take care of his family, and maybe buy a new truck.

Leon Givens of Charlotte also won $200,000 instantly, his win coming on a $200,000 Cash ticket. He had finished babysitting his grandchildren and was sitting at his kitchen table when he scratched off the top prize.

It’s not the largest prize amount of the week, but Jeffery Humbles’ $5,000 win might have the best story behind it. The day after his birthday, Humbles decided to treat himself to a $10 Jumbo Bucks ticket. “This has been a wonderful week!” he told our staff as he claimed his winnings.

Several other players from across the state collected instant prizes this week: a winner from Rowland won $10,000 playing $200,000 a Year for Life; a $20,000 prize in the $4 Million Cash Blowout game went to a Huntersville player; a Fast Cash Bingo player won $30,000; and Jumbo Bucks prizes of $10,000 and $50,000 went to players from Jamesville and High Point.

Last but not least, let’s look at what happened in our state’s very own jackpot game, Carolina Cash 5. The jackpot is back at $50,000 for Friday’s drawing after several tickets won their share of jackpots three nights in a row [Update, Saturday Feb. 4, 10 a.m.: the Cash 5 jackpot rolled to $67,000]. A pair of tickets matched five numbers each to split the Jan. 31 jackpot, winning $65,266 each. One went to a High Point winner. The other, still unclaimed, was sold in Rural Hall. Then in consecutive drawings, tickets sold in Holly Springs and Sanford won $50,000 each.

That does it for this week’s big winner rewind. We wish everyone luck, whether you’re scratching, looking forward to drawing results, or rooting for – or against – a team on Sunday. See you next week.