Couple turns $2 lottery ticket into $316 million Powerball win in Wisconsin
.png "The couple said it was one of the happiest moments of their lives.")
A “WINSconsin” couple has claimed a $316.3 million prize in the seventh-largest Powerball jackpot in history, lottery officials announced.
The Madison couple, Tammy and Cliff Webster, bought their $2 ticket earlier this year and won in a Jan. 5 drawing, according to a news release from the Wisconsin Lottery.
The couple, who are both members of the Oneida Nation Native American tribe, said they were not hopeful when they’d heard two people won the jackpot.
“I was getting ready for work … the news said they had two winners, and I felt all sad,” Tammy Webster told lottery officials in a video interview.
“You know how many people play in Wisconsin, what are the odds of us winning?” her husband added.
But the Websters’ lottery numbers matched and they realized they’d won.
“It’s unbelievable, you don’t know what to do … it was one of the happiest moments of my life,” Cliff Webster said.
The Websters opted to take home one cash prize instead of annual payments. After taxes, the happy couple took home $153.9 million.
“Anyone can win. Just be thankful for what you have and be happy. And maybe, good things will come,” Tammy Webster said.
This is the seventh-largest Powerball prize in history, lottery officials said in the release.
“I told her dad I would always take care of her,” Cliff Webster said. “This gives me that opportunity to do that … this helps a great deal.”
According to the Wisconsin Lottery director, this is the fourth major jackpot win in the state in the last four years.
“It’s incredible that we get to keep celebrating big wins in our state,” Cindy Polzin said, referring to the state as “WINsconsin.”
The Websters split the jackpot with another winner in California.
“We are sincerely grateful for this incredible event,” Tammy Webster said in the release. “We always believed that we had a chance to win if we played, and this is a dream come true.”
This story was originally published February 7, 2022 at 6:34 PM with the headline "Couple turns $2 lottery ticket into $316 million Powerball win in Wisconsin."
