When Knoxville’s Tammy Purkey called the Tennessee Lottery’s toll-free hotline number to check which Powerball numbers were drawn Saturday night, she was quickly struck speechless. That’s because her ticket numbers matched all five of the white ball numbers drawn—which means a cash prize of one-million dollars!
“She called me and she couldn’t talk, so I said, ‘You must have won the lottery or something,’” said her friend, Brian Hickey. “Then she barely said, ‘I did! I won the lottery!’”
Ms. Purkey, a reservation agent in nearby Pigeon Forge, claimed her prize today at the Lottery’s Nashville headquarters. She says she and Mr. Hickey plan to have a long discussion about what to do with the prize money, but that they would “spend wisely.” She was especially pleased that her luck came just in time for the holidays.
Ms. Purkey purchased her ticket at Pilot, 6432 Asheville Hwy., in Knoxville. The retailer will receive $5,000 for selling the lucky ticket.
The million-dollar ticket is the 96th Tennessee Lottery ticket sold worth $1 million or more and the second time in a week a player has matched five of the six balls drawn in the Powerball game. The winner from the Nov. 3 drawing, however, won $2 million because of adding Power Play to the ticket for an extra $1. (For more details about how to play Powerball, see tnlottery.com or ask a Lottery retailer.)
