Mike Paine poses for a photo with his $1 million winning Powerball ticket.
An Iron River man thought a co-worker was playing a mean trick on him when she told him he’d won $1 million playing Powerball.
Mike Paine, 56, matched the five white balls – 04-08-19-27-34 – in Wednesday night’s drawing to win $1 million. He bought his winning ticket at the Freedom Valu Center, located at 405 North Stephenson Avenue in Iron Mountain.
“I had heard a portion of the numbers on the news while I was getting ready for work Thursday morning, and knew I matched two of them,” said Paine. “When I got to work, I asked a co-worker to pull the numbers up on her phone.
“As she said the numbers, I thought she was playing a trick on me and just reading them off of my ticket. I asked her if those were really the winning numbers, when she said yes, I couldn’t believe it!”
Next, Paine gathered several co-workers to share his good news.
“A few of them didn’t believe me at first,” said Paine. “But everyone was so excited that I had won. One of my co-workers walked by me later in the day, pinched me, and told me I wasn’t dreaming.”
The record $1.56 billion Powerball jackpot attracted Paine to the game last week.
“If I spend $100 on Lottery tickets in five years, that’s a lot,” said Paine. “But when I saw how high the jackpot was, I couldn’t pass up a chance to be a billionaire.”
Mike Paine’s winning Powerball ticket.
Paine plans to continue working for a few more years, but is looking forward to retiring knowing he has some extra cash in the bank.
“I’ve got probably three or four more years of work, but I’m going to use this money to make life and my retirement more comfortable,” Paine said.
Powerball plays may be purchased for $2 each at Lottery retailers across the state. A “Power Play” option that multiplies non-jackpot prizes by up to five times may be added to any Powerball play for only $1.
The Powerball drawings take place at 10:59 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays and may be watched live online at: http://www.powerballlive.com/powerball. Powerball tickets are sold in 44 states, Washington D.C., U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.
