Maryland woman hits $1 million Powerball prize with just one ticket

​A Maryland woman’s simple choice to buy one Powerball ticket turned into a huge surprise. She ended up winning $1 million in the Powerball drawing held on December 10.

She bought the ticket just so she wouldn’t miss her chance at the big jackpot, which was close to $900 million at the time.

She never expected to win anything big. In fact, the shock of the win was so strong that the next morning, she was shaking and couldn’t even drive to work. Her husband had to take her.

“I Was Shaking the Whole Morning”

The woman decided to keep her identity private. When she went to claim her prize at the Maryland Lottery office on December 12, she used the name “Nina Anonymous.” Her husband was with her.

“I was shaking so bad that my husband had to drive me to work,” she said while sharing her story.

A small decision that made a big difference

Nina often plays lottery games like Powerball, Mega Millions, and scratch-offs. On December 10, she planned to buy a Powerball ticket after going to the gym.

But when she didn’t end up going to the gym, she almost skipped buying the ticket too.

At the last moment, she decided to go out anyway. She stopped at a 7-Eleven store on Finns Lane in Lanham and bought just one Powerball ticket.

That one ticket changed her life.

Checking the ticket brings a big shock

The next morning, Nina was getting ready for work when she remembered the ticket. She checked the winning numbers on her phone and thought she had matched only two numbers. She expected maybe a small prize.

Then she checked the ticket again, carefully.

That’s when she realized she had matched enough numbers to win $1 million.

She quickly called her husband and told him, “No one won the jackpot, but we won $1 million!”

Her husband was just as shocked as she was.

How she plans to use the money

Nina works in finance, so she already has a plan. She and her husband want to pay off their car loans, clear credit card bills, and buy a bigger home.

Even after winning $1 million, she says she plans to keep playing the lottery. She already has tickets for the Maryland Holiday Raffle, which still has big prizes coming up.

As she left the lottery office, Nina smiled and said, “I’ll be back.”

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