Dog is first to find out after Lexington man won $1 million Powerball jackpot
The dog was the first to find out that its family was a million dollars richer, after a Lexington man won a Powerball jackpot.
The family dog got the news first because the man was home alone when he discovered he’d won the $1 million prize, South Carolina Education Lottery officials said in a news release. He waited until his wife got back to share the details with another human.
“I told my dog,” the man said in the release, saying he was desperate to share his excitement with somebody.
When he finally confided in his wife, she had a hard time believing their good fortune, according to South Carolina Lottery officials.
“He said he had a surprise for me, and then he showed me the ticket,” the woman said in the release. “I still really don’t believe it.”
The man was not publicly identified because South Carolina is one of just a few states — along with Delaware, Kansas, Georgia, Maryland, North Dakota, Ohio and Texas — that allows lottery winners to remain anonymous.
The man has not said how he plans to spend the seven-digit windfall, but hinted it’s a weight off his shoulders.
“The stress is gone,” he told lottery officials.
The man bought a ticket that matched all five white ball numbers in the Jan. 22 Powerball drawing, according to the release.
It had the winning numbers of 11, 33, 44, 59, 67 and a Powerball 8, officials said.
The $1 million ticket was purchased from the Stop N Shop at 1104 North Lake Dr., according to the release. The gas station/convenience store is near the intersection of North Lake and Old Cherokee Road, not far from a Walmart Supercenter and Publix Super Market.
For selling the ticket, Stop N Shop in Lexington received a commission of $10,000, according to the release.
The odds of winning a $1 million jackpot are 1-in-11,688,054, according to the release.
The $1 million prize is the biggest payout from the drawing, but not the only winning Powerball ticket sold in South Carolina. Prizes from $4 to $50,000 were sold across the state, and there are nearly 17,000 winners.
The estimated jackpot for Wednesday night’s Powerball drawing is $394 million, the largest so far in 2020, officials said.
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