Lottery player ‘could barely speak’ after winning big Powerball prize in North Carolina
When a stunned lottery player learned his Powerball ticket matched four white balls and the red Powerball, he was speechless.
After finding out he won a $150,000 Powerball prize, Michael Amon of Goldsboro told lottery officials he got so excited, he “could barely speak.”
“I was tickled to death,” Amon said.
Amon initially won $50,000, which — thanks to a Power Play ticket — tripled to $150,000 when a 3X multiplier hit, according to an Oct. 24 news release by the North Carolina Education Lottery.
He was one white ball short of hitting the Powerball jackpot, an estimated $436 million, on Oct. 19. A player in Georgia won the $478 million Powerball jackpot this week.
The winning ticket, which Amon bought for $3, came from Sheetz, a convenience store in Goldsboro, about a 70-mile drive southeast from Raleigh.
“I didn’t believe it until I got here today,” Amon said as he arrived Oct. 23 at the lottery headquarters to claim his winnings, which after tax, came to a grand total of $107,251, according to the release.
He told lottery officials he plans to use the money to buy a car, house and help his family out.
The odds of winning a $50,000 Powerball prize are 1 in 913,129, and the next drawing is Oct. 26, the lottery said. The jackpot now stands at an estimated $20 million.
This story was originally published October 25, 2024 at 5:44 PM with the headline "Lottery player ‘could barely speak’ after winning big Powerball prize in North Carolina."
