DES MOINES, Iowa – An Ottumwa woman won $20,000 in the April 22 Powerball drawing, which had an estimated jackpot of $42.5 million.
Lucinda Sallee said she likes to play her children's and grandchildren's birthdays when she plays Powerball. However, it was a quick pick set of numbers that helped Sallee win big. She got a big surprise when she had her ticket validated at a local station.
"I gave her the first set of five tickets and she ran it and said I won six bucks," explained Sallee to lottery staff on Tuesday. "She took the second one and she said, 'I got to run this again.' I'm like, 'OK? What's going on?' She ran it again and she came back and she came halfway across the counter and gave me a hug and went back across and said, 'You won $20,000!'"
Sallee was taken off guard by the clerk's statement.
"So she came back across the counter halfway and gave me a hug and she showed me the ticket," said Sallee. "I was like, 'Oh my gosh.' I went halfway across the counter and got her."
Sallee, 48, was very anxious from all the excitement of her win. She went outside to her vehicle and called her daughter right away.
"… I said, 'Tina, I just won $20,000!' She goes, 'Oh, knock it off, Mom,'" laughed Sallee. "I said, 'No, really, I won $20,000.' She said, 'This is not funny.'"
Sallee headed over to her daughter's house to show her the winning ticket.
"She said, 'Mom, you better calm down. You're going to have a heart attack,'" Sallee said.
"I just couldn't calm down for nothing."
Sallee, a transformer operator at Cargo Meat Solution, said she plans to use some of her winnings to help her brother.
"I got a brother who's got a kidney that's failed and one on the way," said Sallee. "He's having a rough time. So I'm going to take some of this money and pay his property taxes for him."
"One of my granddaughters asked me Sunday, 'Are you going to spoil us, Grandma?'" she said.
Beyond that, Sallee said she had plans to get some dental work done.
Sallee claimed her prize at the Iowa Lottery headquarters in Des Moines. She bought her winning Powerball with Power Play ticket at Quick Shop Foods, 405 S. Madison in Ottumwa.
The winning numbers on April 22 were: 15-22-30-37-48 and Powerball 12. The Power Play multiplier was 2. Sallee matched four of the first five numbers drawn and the Powerball to win a $10,000 prize. Since she had added the Power Play® to her ticket, she multiplied her $10,000 win by two and won a total $20,000.
Players can increase their prizes with the Power Play (except the jackpot) up to five times. The cost is $1 per play. The Power Play number, 2 through 5, is chosen at the beginning of the drawing indicating the amount prizes (except the jackpot) will be multiplied if that number is drawn.
For players who choose the Power Play and match five white balls (regularly a $200,000 prize), the multiplier will always be 5, so those players would win an instant $1 million.
