Left-behind play slip leads to $1m Powerball win

LEFT-BEHIND PLAY SLIP LEADS TO $1M POWERBALL WIN

Not everyone checks their lottery tickets as soon as they possibly can. Karen Harger from Glenwood in Iowa, USA, took until last week to find out that she had won a $1m Powerball prize in the November 4 draw but it’s a win that very nearly didn’t happen.The lucky Powerball winner only checks her tickets every couple of months and finally discovered her big win last week. That’s like Kevin Young from Virginia, USA, who took three months to discover he’d won a $7.5m Mega Millions jackpot. A group of lottery players from New York took four months before checking their ticket and find out their $1m Mega Millions win.Karen kept checking her winning Powerball ticket and thought her win was just $1,000. Then her husband looked and saw that there was three more zeroes and they’d won a million dollars. William Acosta from Connecticut, USA, initially thought he’d only matched three numbers but had in fact won $1m playing Powerball.The 65-year-old says her previous best Powerball win was just $10. The Powerball winner is retired after working for the American Red Cross. Still unsure of her win, she asked her husband, Jim, 55, to go to their car and check their Powerball ticket. Once the win was confirmed, the couple kept their big news to themselves until getting it verified on Monday.Despite being a Powerball millionaire, Mrs Harger still intends to keep collecting her drug-store coupons. She added that their Powerball win won’t change what they do but it “just makes things a little easier." It’s the latest big win in Iowa after Betty Downs and Mike Hartman both won $1 Mega Millions prizes.Harger was out running errands when buying her Powerball ticket from Casey’s Convenience Store in Council Bluffs. She regularly uses her own numbers but left her Powerball play-slip in her car so instead it was a quick-pick ticket that gave her the big win. In England, Richard and Dionne Buss changed their numbers and won a £1.9m UK Lotto jackpot. Her ticket matched the five main numbers in the November 4 draw but if she’d got the Powerball 13, she’d have won the $62.9m jackpot.The lucky Powerball winners plan to use their winnings to set up college savings accounts for their four grandchildren. Other spending plans include remodelling their home and saving the rest. Jim has one request though, he wants to buy a new wood-burning stove for their home.Tonight's Powerball jackpot is $300m... purchase your tickets online at Lottery24.com!