After playing the same numbers regularly for the last eighteen years, Michael Tran’s persistence finally paid off when he claimed a $2,000,300 Powerball prize from last Saturday night’s Idaho Lottery draw.
Tran claimed his prize Tuesday afternoon.
“I scanned the ticket with my phone last night -- and it said I had to contact the Lottery office,” Tran said. “Then I checked the numbers for Saturday night and they looked very familiar!”
After playing the same numbers for eighteen years, seeing the same numbers as those drawn for Saturday night’s draw was a real surprise.
Tran’s ticket matched the first five numbers, but not the Powerball on one line of his ticket -- and four of the first five numbers, but not the Powerball on another.
His ticket also had the PowerPlay feature.
The PowerPlay for Saturday night’s draw was 3, which applies to the line that matched four of the first numbers, turning his $100 winner into a $300 winner. For the line where he matched the first five numbers, that prize amount is always $2,000,000 with PowerPlay, making his ticket worth $2,000,300.
The winning ticket Tran purchased was from the Winco Foods store on Fairview Avenue in Boise. For selling the winning ticket, Winco Foods receives a bonus from the Idaho Lottery for $25,000.
Tran plans to pay off his house and save the rest of his winnings.
