A Clinton mechanic let a $50,000 Powerball ticket sit for three days before finally checking it — and when he did, he still tried to keep the news to himself.
The frequent player bought a quick-pick ticket at Korner Liquors, 3120 Old Washington Road in Waldorf, then went about his usual routine of errands and work. When he eventually scanned the ticket, it verified as a third-tier $50,000 winner. Other customers in the store noticed and began congratulating him, but he wasn’t interested in the attention — when asked about his win, he simply told people he’d won $5.
He took the ticket home and called his daughter instead. “I thought he was playing,” she recalled. “Are you sure you won?” she remembered asking before accompanying him to Maryland Lottery headquarters on Sept. 2 to claim the prize.
A mechanic for nearly 50 years, the winner said he doesn’t have big plans for the money. “I just want to sit down,” he said, adding that claiming the prize meant doing something he rarely does for his own errands: turning off his phone. He said he typically has to silence it just to get through his workday with clients; this time, he turned it off to make the trip to Baltimore.
The win marks the third notable Powerball payout tied to Korner Liquors this year. A ticket purchased at the same store in May and claimed in late July won another Charles County man a $50,000 third-tier prize, and a separate ticket sold at the store for the Aug. 19 drawing produced yet another $50,000 win. Korner Liquors has operated at the same Waldorf location since 1971; retailers that sell winning tickets receive a bonus commission on top of regular sales, an incentive built into Maryland’s lottery program.
Maryland Lottery winners have 182 days from a drawing date to claim a prize. Powerball drawings are held Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday nights, with jackpots starting at $20 million and growing each time the top prize goes unclaimed.
