$1 million prize won as Powerball jackpot nears $300 million

All eyes are on Saturday’s $289 million jackpot annuity. If claimed as a lump sum, the jackpot would be a one-time payment of $189.4 million. A ticket sold in Cherryville in Gaston County was just one red Powerball away from hitting the jackpot Wednesday night, winning $1 million instead.

That wasn’t the only big-winning ticket in North Carolina for the drawing. A $3 Power Play ticket sold at the Reservoir Citgo on West Mount Drive in Nashville matched four white balls and the Powerball and is worth $50,000. A $2 ticket sold at PJ’s Fast Food Mart on Asheville Highway in Sylva matched four white balls and the Powerball and is worth $10,000.

We will be watching with all of you to see what happens Saturday night. Remember, a Powerball ticket has the same chance of beating the odds, whether it’s sold in a big city, a small town, in North Carolina or in another state.

Who else won big prizes this week? How about Jarrod Martin of Winston-Salem. He matched all five numbers in the Jan. 22 Cash 5 drawing to win the $263,868 jackpot. He bought his lucky Quick Pick ticket at Kristy’s Food Mart on North Liberty Street in Winston-Salem.

Two players scratched their way to six-figure wins this week. James Eldridge of Clinton plans to use the $150,000 prize he won playing the Joker’s Wild game to save for the future. “When I scratched the ticket, it didn’t hit me that I’d won,” Eldridge said. “It still hasn’t hit me.”

Kal Jackson, a construction worker from Darlington, S.C., plans to put the $100,000 prize he won playing the $1,000,000 Jackpot game toward buying a house. Jackson was visiting his girlfriend in Mebane on Saturday when he stopped to buy lottery tickets. “I’m very grateful,” he said.

A duo from Beaufort County is sharing the $10,000 prize they won playing the “$2,500 a Week for Life!” game. Claude Batchler and Joey Smith are both from Belhaven.

Ten more players claimed prizes between $10,000 and $50,000 this week. They are:

• Allen Edwards of Battleboro: $10,000 ($5,000 a Week for Life!)
• Pragnesh Shah of Broadway: $10,000 (Break The Bank)
  
• Belva Peterson of Clinton: $10,000 ($2,500 a Week for Life!)
  
• Eh Doe of Durham: $10,000 ($5,000 a Week for Life!)
  
• Nicholas Waddell of Raleigh: $50,000 (Jingle Bingo Bucks)
  
• Sarah Wall of Rockingham: $10,000 (Jan. 23 Mega Millions drawing)
  
• Diana Finch of Trinity: $20,000 ($1,000,000 Jackpot)
  
• Bradley Ledford of Valdese: $10,000 (Millionaire 7’s)
  
• Jorge Mendoza of Wendell: $10,000 ($4,000,000 Multiplier Spectacular)
  

Thanks for playing and reading this week’s weekly wrap up. We’ll see you next week after the big game. Not the football game! Saturday’s Powerball drawing ;-)