Lucky ticket doubles winner's giving potential
By Kate Northrop
ROYAL OAK, Mich. — A Michigan man is looking forward to helping his family and others in need after winning a $2 million Powerball lottery prize.
A $2 million Powerball prize came as a "blessing" for one Michigan lottery player, who plans on using it to support this family and donate to charity.
Ralph Davis, 74, purchased a lottery ticket for the Powerball drawing on Jan. 18, 2025 at Sage Beer and Wine on Greenfield Road in Royal Oak.
"I always buy my Powerball ticket at the same store," Davis told the Michigan Lottery.
He purchased his ticket with the Power Play option for an extra dollar, and when his ticket matched all five white ball numbers in the drawing — 14, 31, 35, 64, and 69 — he doubled his $1 million prize to $2 million.
"The day after the drawing, my wife sat down to check the tickets," Davis recalled. "When she said to me: 'We won the Lottery!' I was thinking we'd won $50 or something. That's when she said: 'No, it's $1 million times two!'"
The winner visited Lottery headquarters in Lansing recently to claim his prize, the Lottery announced on Monday. When asked how he plans on using his winnings, very first thing that comes to mind is helping others close to him and those in need.
"I was floored and must have looked at the ticket 30 times to be sure we were seeing it correctly," the winner added. "Winning is such a blessing for my family. We can give more to charities and share this with the people who mean the most to us."
Not only that, but the decision to add the Power Play option for an extra dollar means that he can afford to give more, thanks to the boosted prize.
"Adding the Power Play option to his ticket paid off in a big way for Mr. Davis," Lottery Commissioner Suzanna Shkreli said in a press release. "Getting a $2 million return on a $3 ticket is incredible and I am happy to hear this prize will have a positive impact on Ralph and his family."
The next Powerball annuity jackpot estimate for the drawing on Saturday, March 15 currently stands at $378 million.
Powerball is currently offered for sale in 45 states, plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays at 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Tickets cost $2 each.
Powerball lottery results are published within minutes of the drawing at USA Mega (www.usamega.com). The USA Mega website provides lottery players in-depth information about the United States' two biggest multi-state lottery games, Mega Millions and Powerball.
I hope someone wins the mega millions soon before they wrongly increase those ticket prices 250%!!! 🍀🤞
Congrats Ralph, enjoy every minute.
The price increase will be a much tougher sell w/ a low JP rather than a high one. So I say:
The extra $1 really does go a long ways.
I know so many people think it's not prudent to add it, but I always do, both on my PB and MM tickets where it can be multiplied to 5x
Congrats on the win 👏
Agree. Sounds like he wants to help others as well.
I agree, I would think they will have fewer sales. It would make more sense to lower the price to $1.00 per line and also lower the jackpot amount.
We will see what happens.
Same here! I guarantee no one does though!
I'm happy for Ralph. However, I would caution him about "helping" people in need. While $2 million is a lot of money, if it is not managed well to guarantee long-term financial security, Ralph could be back at square one. This is why it is crazy for some lotteries to still require winners to go public. Such publicity puts enormous pressure on winners,.
Yes it would make more sense to lower the MM ticket price back to $1 dollar and the jackpot. Unfortunately that is something they will not be doing because they have to do something to one-up the PB which has drawings 3 days a week.
Hey smart LP folks...tell me how much he received post taxes from winning that prize?! Nice feel good story just the same.
If he gives away too much, he'll have nothing left, just my opinion.
Checking MI lotto site I see they offer Double Play. I too play $4 ticket/draw with PP and DP options. Also like the fact that the DP is not RNG but still has ball drawings. Did win $12 Saturday from DP, not a great ROI, however it'll pay for two drawings plus one Mega Millions/MP and pick another $1.
he wants to help im right here
I'm buying twice a week right up to the end. I probably won't play the new one very often.
"tell me how much he received post taxes "
If that's his only taxable income and he has 50k worth of deductions he'd pay about $645,560 in federal taxes, leaving $-1,354,440. MI tax should be another $82,875, for a final net of $1,271,565.
"I would caution him about "helping" people in need. "
On one hand that's a lot for a normal person to be working with, and OTOH after helping his own family, including himself, he might be down to an even million and that doesn't really go all that far. At an average of 10k for everyone he helps thats 100 people.
How ever he uses it, I think the biggest problem will be deciding who's actually worthy of the help.