Players return to the table as "PowerBall" resumes in Georgia

Players get a second chance at trying their luck as "PowerBall" returns to Georgia.

The newly updated version of PowerBall more than doubles Georgia's Big Money JackPots as the state becomes the thrity third state to join the nation wide game.

There were no jackpot winners Wednesday, but 540,225 players across the nation won more than $6.4 Million in prizes in America's Game. Click here to see the winning numbers.

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“I’m excited,” said Mr. Martin about the drawing that would be held later that evening.   “I don’t know what I might do with the money if I were to win.   But I do know what I won’t do, and that’s work as hard as I do every day.”

Prior to Sunday, 12 states, including Georgia, sold only the Mega Millions ticket as their big jackpot lottery game. Meanwhile, 33 states plus the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands sold Powerball. But an agreement signed between officials with the two games last year allows now states that take part in either game to sell tickets for both.

As of Sunday, 33 states now sell tickets for both games, and that number is expected to rise to 45 by this spring. Those who buy tickets in those states will have four chances each week to win a big jackpot. Powerball drawings are Wednesday and Saturday. Mega Millions tickets are Tuesday and Friday.

“That’s the big thing. The more states there are the quicker these jackpots are going to rise,” said Ted Young, manager of the Knob North Korner Market in Cohutta. “The big point seems to be when the jackpot reaches $100 million. That’s when you see a lot of people who don’t normally play the games buy a ticket.”

In fact, the Powerball jackpot rose $15 million from Sunday, when the tickets went on sale in Georgia. But some local store managers said sales of the tickets were a little slow.

“I don’t think a lot of people really know this is available yet,” Young said. “It’s new. They’ve got to advertise it some more, but when word gets out, I think it will pick up.”

Aelana Queen at the Beaverdale Superette said Wednesday afternoon she had only sold about 11 Powerball tickets since Sunday, compared to about 500 for the Mega Millions.

“I don’t know if people really know about it yet. The people that I’ve sold them to, the ones I can remember, have been from Tennessee,” she said.

Jim Reilly of LaFayette said he plays Mega Millions “pretty often.”

“I drove up to Chattanooga a couple of years ago when it (the Powerball jackpot) got really big and bought a ticket,” he said. “I guess now I don’t have to drive up there when it gets big.”

In 2009, stores in Whitfield County sold $2.1 million in Mega Millions tickets, while stores in Murray County sold $578,862 in Mega Millions tickets, according to data provided by the Georgia Lottery Corp.

An official with The Georgia Lottery Corp. said sales figures weren’t available for the state’s first Powerball game Wednesday afternoon.

Locally, it was tough Wednesday to get a handle on how many Powerball tickets were being sold since many local convenience store chains don’t allow managers to speak to the press without prior approval.

Arkansas Jackpot Winner Comes Forward A Conway man won the $25 million jackpot in Powerball’s Jan. 2 drawing, state lottery officials report. The recipient, who wishes to remain anonymous, claimed his prize on Friday, January 29th. Officials also did not release his age or occupation. The new winner opted to collect a lump sum of $12.15 million instead of the full amount paid in installments over 30 years. The winning ticket was sold at the Crackerbox convenience store in Mayflower. $32M Powerball Prize is Claimed The Oklahoma Lottery announced the $32 million winning Powerball ticket, from Nov. 21, 2009, has been claimed. The End of the Rainbow Trust has come forward as the beneficiary, with Richard Craig, serving as the trustee. Craig is an attorney with the law firm of McAfee & Taft in Oklahoma City. The End of the Rainbow Trust requested the lump-sum payment option and will receive $11.8M after taxes. The winning jackpot ticket was sold at Kwik Chek #38 located at 505 S. Garfield in Kiowa, Okla. The End of the Rainbow Trust is the fourth Powerball Jackpot winner in Oklahoma since the launch of Powerball in Jan. 2006.       Missouri Man Wins $200,000 Playing Powerball A Milan man is now debt-free after he matched all five white-ball numbers in the Dec. 23 Powerball drawing to win $200,000. Jeffery “Jeff” Jefferson, 50, said he plans to use his prize winnings to pay off his house and his vehicle. The prize money that is left, he plans to “sit on it for a while.” “I haven’t been debt-free since back in the ‘80s, so this is going to be different,” said Jefferson, who works in maintenance at Farmland Foods in Milan. Jefferson purchased his winning ticket at Casey’s, 220 E. Third St. in Milan, on Dec. 23, during his regular Wednesday stop for a Milan Standard newspaper. He didn’t find out that his ticket was a big winner until he stopped for a paper one week later. “When the clerk checked my ticket, she said to me, ‘You’ve got to go to a Lottery office to claim it,’” he said. “She almost fainted. “She said, ‘Are you going to cry?’ And I said, ‘No.’ Then she said, ‘I think I’m going to.’” Jefferson used Quick Pick to select his lucky numbers.       Million Dollar Christmas for Indy Couple Brent Lighty of Indianapolis had an especially good Christmas after winning $1 million in the December 19 Powerball drawing. Lighty and his wife, Leanne, claimed their $1 million prize at Hoosier Lottery Headquarters. "It's amazing," said Lighty. "It's a pretty surreal feeling." Lighty matched the first five numbers, but not the Powerball number, in the Saturday December 19 drawing. Lighty upgraded the standard $200,000 prize to $1 million by adding Power Play for an extra dollar. With Power Play, the $200,000 Match 5 prize becomes an automatic $1 million. "Even after Uncle Sam gets done with it, it was a nice Christmas present!" said Lighty. Brent and Leanne say they plan to pay off their house and cars. Lighty purchased his lucky quick pick ticket at Marsh Supermarket at 1440 East 86th Street in Indianapolis. "You can't win if you don't play," said Lighty.       One Digit Off: Indiana Man Wins $200,000 An Indianapolis man is one of the latest lucky Hoosier’s to win big money playing America's favorite game, Powerball. Hai Zheng, a self described "superfan" of Powerball was elated as he claimed his $200,000 prize at Hoosier Lottery Headquarters. "It's very exciting. I never expected this," said Zheng. "I just play for fun!" Zheng was just one digit off from winning the Dec. 16th $77 million Powerball jackpot. Zheng matched the first five numbers, but not the Powerball number to win $200,000. Zheng works for Indiana University and says he plans to use his winnings to travel. He purchased his lucky ticket at Kroger #500 at 5718 Crawfordsville Rd. in Indianapolis.       Missouri Lottery Winner Says Sundays are for Football and Powerball Dane Sackrider has his Sunday routine down pat. Each week, prior to the Kansas City Chiefs football game, he ventures to a nearby convenience store to get something to drink and to check his Powerball tickets from the previous night’s drawing. Though the Chiefs lost one recent Sunday, Sackrider came out a winner. The 22-year-old bank teller won $10,000 by matching four white-ball numbers, as well as the Powerball number, from the Dec. 12th drawing. Sackrider said his Sunday trips to QuikTrip, in Grandview, usually include a little friendly encouragement on his part as he asks the clerk to scan his ticket to determine if it’s a winner. “Usually, I’m like, ‘Come on, win. Come on, win,’” he shared. “This time I wasn’t really even watching. It came up $10,000, and I said, ‘Do what?!’” He took the ticket home and checked his numbers again on Molottery.com. Armed with the reassurance that he really was holding a $10,000 ticket, Sackrider called his mother to share the good news. “She said, ‘Shut up, you’re lying,” he laughed, thinking of the reactions of those around him. “My sister’s boyfriend also said he hated me. That was kind of nice.” Plans for the unexpected prize money include “putting some in savings and probably getting a pretty nice TV, too.”       Missouri Man Wins $200,000 Powerball Prize Timothy Flowers is looking forward “to getting out of debt” after matching all five white-ball numbers in the Dec. 5 Powerball drawing. The feat earned the Curryville boilermaker a cash prize of $200,000. Flowers purchased his winning ticket at Abel’s Quik Shop in Bowling Green. Flowers, 46, discovered his ticket was a winner when he went back to Abel’s Quick Shop a couple of days following the drawing. “I went in there and scanned it,” he said, referring to the retailer’s Check-A-Ticket machine. Though he tried not to create a scene in the store when he realized what he was holding, he was pretty sure his appearance gave him away. “I was excited,” he said. “My eyes got as big as saucers, and my mouth hit the floor.” He then “walked out to my dad and said, ‘You aint going to believe this!’” Flowers used Powerball’s Quick Pick feature to allow the computer to randomly select his numbers for him.       Idaho Woman Claims $200,000 Powerball Ticket December was an emotional month for Frankie Masterson of St. Maries. While lamenting the third anniversary of the loss of her husband of 39 years, Frankie learned her grandson had been seriously wounded while serving in Afghanistan. Then came one Sunday morning, when in an unusual twist of luck, her circumstances took another, completely unexpected turn while she reviewed the winning Powerball numbers in the Sunday paper. Frankie was holding a Powerball ticket that matched the 5 white balls from the Saturday night’s numbers of the December 12th drawing. The only number she did not have was 29, the Powerball number. “I can’t quit getting blubbery,” said a shocked Masterson, who has lived in St. Maries since 1969. “I’ve been getting by just by the skin of my teeth. I’m still shaking. This is unbelievable.” Every present on her mind has been the safety of her grandson who stepped on an IED (an improvised explosive device also known as a roadside bomb) the first part of December while serving on active duty with the U.S. Marine Corps in Afghanistan. Mercifully, Frankie’s grandson is recovering from his wounds stateside in an east coast medical facility. “He was badly injured, but he is alive,” said a concerned Frankie. “He comes first before this money, that’s for sure.” Frankie signed her ticket before returning to the store where she purchased it, Harvest Foods in St. Maries, to check and make sure it was the winner. After verifying it was indeed the winning ticket that needed to be claimed in Boise, Masterson locked the ticket away in her son’s gun safe until bringing it to Idaho Lottery Headquarters. Frankie plans to use some of her winnings to visit her grandson. “I couldn’t have afforded to visit him without this,” said a thankful Frankie. “I’m planning on taking his sister and maybe my great-grand daughter to visit him. This has been one holiday to remember.”       Kansas Resident “Bags” $200,000 Powerball Prize After a weekend of deer hunting, Roy Higbee wasn’t able to find that trophy deer to hang on his wall. He did, however, get a big $200,000 check he can hang on his wall. The Severy resident matched the first five Powerball numbers in the Dec. 12 drawing, winning a $200,000 cash prize! “My wife Tamara and I were out deer hunting on Saturday when we decided to stop at a convenience store to get something to eat,” said Higbee. “I ended up with $5 left and decided to buy a Powerball ticket.” Higbee was shocked when that spur of the moment purchase proved to be worth $200,000. “We stopped at another convenience store Sunday morning before heading out to our deer stand,” said Higbee. “That’s when I checked my ticket. The Check-A-Ticket machine kept reading, ‘Sign back of ticket. Claim at Lottery.’ I thought something was wrong, so I asked my niece Crashena, who was working at the store, to check my ticket. When she told me I’d won $200,000, I couldn’t believe it. I thought she said $200. She had to repeat herself several times.” Needless to say, Higbee and his wife didn’t deer hunt that day. “We got out to our deer stand and I didn’t feel like hunting,” said Higbee. “We decided to go shopping instead.” Higbee, who works for Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, said he couldn’t wait to go to work tomorrow and share his good news. “There are a few guys that pool their money every week and buy Lottery tickets,” said Higbee. “I asked to be part of the pool and they wouldn’t let me. I can’t wait to show them what I’ve won.” The Higbees, who have been married five years, plan to buy a newer home and car with their winnings. The winning ticket was purchased at Tripco Enterprises, Inc., located in Severy.       Tennessee Woman $1 Million Richer Rowena McIntyre couldn’t contain her tears of joy when she arrived at the Tennessee Lottery’s headquarters to claim her $1 million win. “It’s surreal,” said the Martin, Tenn. resident. “This just gives me peace of mind…you have no idea.” Rowena, who works at a senior center and eagerly talks about her children and grandchildren, won the $1 million by matching all five white numbers from the Saturday, December 5th Powerball drawing and using the Power Play. She purchased her ticket from University Exxon in Martin, Tenn.       Indiana Man Collects $200,000 Prize Bradley Keal of Connersville learned his lesson about Power Play the hard way. After matching five of six numbers, excluding the Powerball, in Saturday night's, Dec. 5 draw, Keal became a $200,000 winner. When he called Hoosier Lottery Headquarters to find out what to do, Keal was asked if he was aware of Power Play. The Connersville man was not and hence had not chosen to Power Play his Powerball purchase. "I had to pick my jaw up off the floor after the woman told me that I would have won one million dollars," said Keal, who claimed his $200,000 from Hoosier Lottery Headquarters with his twin brother Brian. "I'm not complaining, though. This is more than I had before!" A Powerball with Power Play ticket that matches five of five white balls will multiply the $200,000 prize by five, regardless of the Power Play number selected. Keal would have won $1 million if he had purchased Power Play. "I told him that if he would have put Power Play on his ticket, the computer may have generated totally different numbers for his quick pick ticket," said Brian Keal. "Then he wouldn't have won anything. Now we know for next time." Keal left his Powerball quick pick ticket in his pocket and pulled it out when he went to cash his pay check. "I checked the numbers online," said Keal. "I was flabbergasted." Keal's winning ticket was purchased from Miller Discount Tobacco Store in Connersville. "This will take care of me," said Keal. "And I can get some good Christmas gifts for people."       North Carolina Group Wins $200,000 A group of 15 teachers from Swansboro High School had a pleasant surprise this year for Thanksgiving. The day before Thanksgiving, they claimed $200,000 from their winning Nov. 7 Powerball ticket. This is not the first time the group has won big playing Powerball. They won $10,000 in the Jan. 10 Powerball drawing. The winners are from Jacksonville, Swansboro, Maysville, Stella, Hubert, and Cape Carteret. Albert Zima of Jacksonville organized the Powerball pool and buys the tickets for the group. He says he originally thought they’d only won $100 because he’d written one of the winning numbers down incorrectly. When he took the ticket to be scanned, he learned that they’d actually matched all five white balls and the ticket was worth $200,000. The group says they enjoy playing the lottery because it supports education in the state. Among the plans for the winnings are Christmas shopping, sharing the money with family, and putting the money in savings.       Christmas Eve Miracle Mistake Wins Georgetown Couple $128.6 Million A Christmas Eve mistake has led to the largest lottery jackpot in Kentucky history being won by a Georgetown couple. Rob Anderson, his wife Tuesday and a collection of family members came to Kentucky Lottery headquarters in Louisville with their winning ticket, which was a $3 Quick Pick. They have not chosen whether or not to take the lump sum or 30 year annuity. They have 60 days to make that decision. Christmas Eve day started for 39 year-old Rob just like it did for many people – rushing around to buy last-minute Christmas gifts. “I was on my way to the Wal-Mart on Highway 62 in Georgetown to pick up some presents,” said Rob. “I saw the Pro Travel Marathon on my way to Wal-Mart, so I thought I’d swing in and get a couple of lottery tickets as stocking stuffers.” “I needed to get gifts for three people, so I thought I’d get three single $1 Powerball tickets to put in their stockings,” Rob continued. “I told the clerk what I wanted, and instead he mistakenly printed one ticket with three lines of numbers that cost $3. I told him it was a mistake, but I decided to just keep the ticket and get the three others I needed.” The clerk printed those tickets, and Rob went on to complete his holiday shopping. When he went home later that evening he threw the $3 ticket on the nightstand in his bedroom, not paying much attention to it as it wasn’t what he usually played. “I always pick my own numbers based on important dates, and I buy a $1 Powerball ticket every Wednesday and Saturday,” Rob said. On the Sunday morning after the Powerball drawing of Saturday, December 26th, Rob checked the winning numbers on his DirectTV system and knew they weren’t any of the ones he usually picked. That’s when he remembered the $3 ticket on his nightstand. “As I was walking down the hall with the ticket, it seemed like with every step I took I realized I’d matched another number. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. When I finally realized all of the numbers matched, I could only think of one thing to yell to my wife – “Oh damn, I think we’ve hit the lottery!” Still not believing what he was seeing, Tuesday called her father and asked him to read back the winning Powerball numbers. “Tuesday then told him he’d better get over to our house fast,” Rob said. In the eleven days since the drawing, Rob has taken the time to meet with an attorney to decide how best to move forward. “It’s really important to me that we stay grounded through this process. I’d thought in the past about what I’d do if this ever happened to us, but the odds just seemed so long that I never thought it would occur.” Rob said the first few nights after the big win were sleepless, and he’d been taking the rest of the time “day by day. My nerves were shot, and I drank a few beers to help calm me down.” The ticket was kept in a safe. As for the future, Rob says he and Tuesday haven’t made any concrete plans but have looked at some pieces of property and a few new vehicles. One thing they’ve both talked about is their new-found wealth will allow them to go back to school to further their education. “I guess finance might be a good major to have,” Rob laughed.