Don Grainger of Lexington got off work on Wednesday, stopped to buy a Powerball ticket for that night’s drawing, and ended the day with a $150,000 prize.
Grainger said he discovered his good luck when he woke up the next morning.
“I’m a lot better today than I was yesterday!” he laughed as he claimed his prize Thursday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh.
Grainger’s big win came as North Carolinians play for major jackpots in the Powerball and Mega Million games. On Friday, the Mega Millions jackpot weighs in at $288 million as an annuity, or $208.9 million in cash. Saturday’s Powerball drawing offers a $322 million jackpot as an annuity prize or $235.4 million cash.
In Wednesday’s drawing, Grainger’s Quick Pick ticket, purchased at the Exprezit Plus off U.S. 64 in Lexington, matched numbers on four of the white balls and the red Powerball to win $50,000. His prize tripled to $150,000 when the 3X multiplier was drawn, a feature of his $3 Power Play ticket. The odds of matching four white balls and the Powerball in a drawing are 1 in 913,129.
Grainger, a maintenance technician at a textile plant for the last 42 years, knows just what to do with his big win.
He says he plans to enjoy being 60-years-old with no bills to pay and will buy his wife a new car.
After required federal and state tax withholdings, Grainger took home $106,126.
Ticket sales from draw games like Powerball and Mega Millions make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $900 million per year for education. For details on how $9.3 million raised by the lottery made a difference in Davidson County in 2020, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.
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Congratulations on your win.