A lucky Mississippi Powerball player is $2 million richer after a big win in Wednesday night’s Powerball drawing.
The winning ticket was purchased at Doc’s Quick Stop Exxon in Byhalia. The unidentified player matched all five white balls — 3-19-35-51-67 — to initially win $1 million, then doubled the prize to $2 million by adding the $1 power play option. Rather than allowing a computer to randomly generate numbers, the player selected their own numbers.
Wednesday’s drawing is already being called a “Night of Millionaires” nationwide. While jackpot-winning tickets in Indiana and Kansas split the estimated $143 million top prize with an estimated cash value of $65 million, the real story extended far beyond the jackpot. An eye-popping 89 additional players across the country also became millionaires, bringing the total to 91 new millionaires in a single night.
RELATED: New ‘Wheel of Fortune’ lottery game offers Mississippi players cash prizes, shot at LA trip
In an interesting twist, the winning white ball numbers aligned in a straight vertical line on many Powerball play slips, a pattern some players intentionally use. According to the Multi-State Lottery Association, several winners who have come forward said they used that exact approach. The Mississippi play slip, however, is structured differently and would not have allowed for that straight-line selection.
Mississippi’s $2 million winner was one of 27 players nationwide who boosted their $1 million prize by purchasing the power play feature. Without it, the prize would have remained at $1 million — making this win a powerful example of how a $1 add-on can make a big difference.
The Powerball jackpot now resets to an estimated $20 million with an estimated cash value of $9.1 million for the drawing on Saturday.
Please play responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, please call the National Council on Problem Gambling’s toll-free helpline at 1-800-GAMBLER.
