Woman who rarely plays NC lottery got $3 ticket as Powerball prize grew and won big

A woman who seldom bothers with the lottery softened her stance when the Powerball jackpot prize neared $600 million — and it paid off, according to the North Carolina Education Lottery.

Durham resident Marie Ward invested $3 in the rare bit of frivolous spending.

She won $100,000, officials said in a news release.

So what does a lottery novice do when handed that much free money?

More frivolous spending, it seems.

“My husband and I will go on a nice vacation someplace warm,” Ward said in the release. “We will probably go on a cruise, maybe to the Caribbean.”

She won $50,000 on Dec. 20 by matching numbers on four white balls and the red Powerball, lottery officials said. The additional $50,000 came due to Ward adding the Power Play multiplier option when she bought the ticket online.

“I don’t buy tickets very often but the jackpot was growing so I just said, ‘Okay I’ll give this a try,’” she recalled.

“It was really early in the morning when I found out. I woke up my husband to tell him about it. I was very excited.”

Ward claimed her prize Jan. 3 and the winnings came to $71,509 after tax withholdings were taken out, officials said.