Group of friends in NC wins big Powerball prize and hopes to hit jackpot — by bowling
A close-knit group of friends who have bowled together for years in North Carolina has added another type of game to its pasttime — playing the lottery.
After they got lucky and won $50,000 in the Sept. 16 drawing, they’re now vying for a chance to win the huge $960 million Powerball jackpot, state lottery officials said in a news release.
“With everybody playing together, it was like, ‘Hey let’s take a shot at this thing,’” Marquis Poteat told officials. She acts as a spokesperson for the group of 19, which renamed its team to Bowling for Dollars, the release said.
And while the friends were excited to win $50,000, it’s really more about the camaraderie behind the effort, Poteat told officials. After they divided up the winnings 19 ways, they agreed a portion “would go toward more bowling fun together.”
“It brings together a lot of people through bowling just coming from different walks of life,” she said in the release.
The $960 million jackpot in Sept. 30’s Powerball drawing represents the fourth largest jackpot prize in the history of the game, the release said. Winners also have the option of $441.4 million in cash.
“The Powerball jackpot has gone 30 consecutive drawings without a winner,” the release said. “The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292 million.”
With 19 of them, they just might get lucky. The team of friends will keep playing together, regardless of whether they hit the jackpot or not, Poteat said in the release.
What to know about Powerball
To score a jackpot in the Powerball, a player must match all five white balls and the red Powerball.
The odds of scoring the jackpot prize are 1 in 292,201,338.
Tickets cost $2 and can be bought on the day of the drawing, but sales times vary by state.
Drawings are broadcast Saturdays, Mondays and Wednesdays at 10:59 p.m. ET and can be streamed online.
Powerball is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
