News writer
Can you imagine winning $100,000 playing Powerball but then getting to share that win with a good friend who also happened to win $50,000 playing Powerball?
That is exactly what happened to a woman in Michigan who played the same Powerball numbers as her friend, and they both took home a jackpot!
The winning Powerball numbers
The lucky win came for the Feb. 21 drawing. The white ball numbers for that drawing were 4, 27, 33, 41, and 42, and the Powerball number was 14.
Naomi Cawley, 59, of Saginaw, happened to match four of the white balls and the Powerball, which gave her a $50,000 prize. She also happened to purchase the Power Play option, which doubled the prize to $100,000. Cawley said she bought her winning ticket online from the MI Lottery website.
Powerball special features
Powerball tickets are sold for $2 and can be purchased at any lottery retailer in Michigan or online at the Michigan Lottery website. You can add the Power Play option, which multiples any non-jackpot prize you win by up to 10 times. However, it maxes out at $2 million, which can be added to any Powerball play. This option is available for only $1 more.
Players can also choose the Double Play for an additional $1 per play. This gives players a second chance at winning up to $10 million in the nightly Double Play drawing.
Cawley’s $100,000 win
It was a special moment for Cawley, who didn’t even know she won until her friend called her. She told the Michigan Lottery that she and a friend “have always said if we won the lottery, we would share the money.” However, the women didn’t just buy one ticket for them to share; instead, they started buying their “own separate tickets with the same numbers.”
That seemed to benefit Cawley in this situation because she bought the winning ticket and added the Power Play to her ticket. Meanwhile, her friend bought her winning ticket but forgot to add the Power Play.
That meant Cawley won $100,000, and her friend, who called her to share the exciting news, won $50,000. Regardless, both women are happy, and Cawley said, “It is so exciting and fun to experience together.”
She recently made the trip to the lottery headquarters to claim her prize, and she plans to use some of the money to take her family on a trip and then just save the rest of it.
Friends who play together, win together
Cawley and her friend aren’t the only friends to win big together while playing the lottery. Back in July 2022, Perry Charles and Scott Edwards from North Carolina split a $361,527 Fast Play jackpot from a ticket that Charles purchased.
The two met while working at a Winn-Dixie supermarket and made a pact a long time ago to split any big lottery wins with each other. The big win came on July 12, 2022, and the friends went together to the lottery headquarters on July 13, 2022, to collect their winnings.
Enjoy playing the Michigan Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.
