$50,000 Powerball Ticket? ‘Throw It Away’
It’s not every day that Kennet “Kenny” McGuire of Clarksville purchases a Missouri Lottery Powerball ticket. In fact, it’s more like every once in a while.
“I just buy one whenever I’m at the gas station and I think about it. I’ve bought maybe five tickets so far this year,” said McGuire.
On April 4, while getting sodas at Abel’s Quik Shop, 602 S. Third St. in Louisiana, the Lottery caught McGuire’s eye.
“I bought one Quick Pick Powerball ticket and stuck it in my wallet,” recalled McGuire.
It wasn’t until the Clarksville resident and his wife, Brandi, returned to Abel’s Quik Shop 10 days later that they had the ticket checked for prizes.
“I handed the ticket to the clerk. He scanned it, and he told me that he couldn’t cash the ticket,” explained McGuire, who previously worked Abel’s Quik Shop and knows the clerk.
“I told him, ‘Well, if you can’t cash it, throw it away.’ He said, ‘No! You’re going to have to go to (a Lottery office) to cash this. I can’t cash it,’” recalled McGuire.
McGuire’s Powerball ticket matched four of the five white-ball numbers and the Powerball number drawn in the April 4 drawing, resulting in a $50,000 prize. Those winning numbers were: 8, 24, 42, 54 and 64 with a Powerball number of 24.
After convincing his wife that the ticket was real, the McGuires traveled to the Lottery’s St. Louis office on April 16 to claim the prize.
“She keeps joking with me, saying things like, ‘You had $50,000 in your wallet for 10 days and didn’t tell me? How selfish are you?’” laughed McGuire.
With the $50,000 prize, the McGuires are looking forward to paying off their debt and treating their growing family with a trip to Six Flags St. Louis. McGuire also plans to share a small portion of the prize with the clerk who sold him the ticket.
Powerball is a $2 per play multi-state Draw Game that features jackpots starting at $40 million. Powerball drawings are held on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 9:59 p.m. Research all current and past winning numbers at MOLottery.com. Players can now check their tickets for winners on their phone with the Missouri Lottery app.
