A Kalamazoo County woman got the surprise of a lifetime when she woke up at 3 a.m. to an email from the Lottery and learned she’d won a $100,000 Powerball prize.
Anne Vantongeren, of Portage, matched the four white balls and the Powerball – 03-06-11-17-22 PB:11 – in the Oct. 10 drawing to win a $50,000 prize. Thanks to the Power Play, the prize was multiplied to $100,000. She bought her winning ticket online at MichiganLottery.com.
“I play Powerball often and I typically purchase my tickets online since it’s convenient,” said Vantongeren. “The morning after the drawing, I woke up at 3 a.m. because I couldn’t sleep and saw I had an email from the Lottery telling me I’d won a prize, but it didn’t say how much. When I logged on to my account and saw a $100,000 balance, I was shocked! I just sat there staring at the amount waiting for it to sink in.”
Vantongeren, 64, recently visited Lottery headquarters to claim her prize. With her winnings, she plans to complete some home improvements and then save the remainder.
“Winning feels greats and gives me a secure feeling knowing I don’t have to worry about finances,” said Vantongeren.
The Powerball jackpot was last won on August 3. One ticket bought in Pennsylvania won the $206.9 million jackpot. The current jackpot stands at $1 billion.
Powerball plays may be purchased for $2 each at Lottery retailers across the state and online at MichiganLottery.com. A “Power Play” option that multiplies non-jackpot prizes by up to 10 times to a maximum of $2 million may be added to any Powerball play for only $1. For an additional $1 per play, Double Play may be added to a Powerball ticket, giving players a second chance to win up to $10 million in the nightly Double Play drawing.
The Powerball drawing takes place at 10:59 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday and may be watched live online at: http://www.powerball.com. Powerball tickets are sold in 45 states, Washington D.C., U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.