Man wins lottery with 2 Powerball tickets in same drawing

Ben Baker bought a total of 10 tickets with two of those tickets ended up matching four of the winning numbers plus the Powerball number.

COVINGTON, Va. — Winning the lottery is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but having two winning tickets is likely unheard of.

A Virginia man won hundreds of thousands of dollars in the Powerball twice in the same drawing.

Benjamin Baker, of Covington, Virginia, bought a total of 10 tickets for the March 4 Powerball drawing at his local Food Lion grocery store, according to a press release issued by the Virginia Lottery.

Baker managed to match four of the winning numbers plus the Powerball number on two of the tickets he purchased for what normally would have been a $50,000 prize for each winning ticket.

The winning numbers in that drawing were 10-16-18-40-66, and the Powerball number was 16, according to Virginia Lottery. The odds of matching all six numbers to win the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million. The overall odds of winning any Powerball prize are 1 in 25. 

“I was really lucky!” Banker said as he received his big check from Virginia Lottery Executive Director Kelly T. Gee.

Baker spent an extra dollar on each ticket for Power Play, which tripled each winning prize to $150,000, the lottery said. Baker won a total of $300,000 from the two winning tickets.

He told the Virginia Lottery he plans to use some of the winnings to improve his home and save the rest.

Powerball drawings are held at 10:59 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays.

For general information or to play games online, visit the Virginia Lottery’s website or download the Lottery’s app. As a reminder from Virginia Lottery, to play responsibly with all gaming.