While dozens of winners win with play slip pattern, one winner strayed from the rest

By Kate Northrop

ORD, Neb. — Powerball lottery results that aligned with patterns on several state play slips produced two jackpot winners and 89 second-tier prize winners of at least $1 million, but one Nebraska woman's win was a bit different.

In what the Multi-State Lottery Association is dubbing a "Night of Millionaires," nearly a hundred players across the US won a million dollars or more after the draw produced a unique set of numbers.

The April 29 Powerball drawing drew winning numbers 3, 19, 35, 51, and 67, with red Powerball number 15. It resulted in a frenzy of winners, with 89 winners from several states raking in a second-tier prize and two jackpot winners — one each from Indiana and Kansas — sharing a $143.4 million jackpot.

These winning numbers correspond with a pattern that can be observable on many states' Powerball play slips, namely that the white ball numbers line up next to each other either in a straight line or diagonally.

In other words, players in that evening's draw decided to fill out their play slip by making a pattern of filled-in dots on the paper.

However, Nebraska resident Roberta Trumbo recently stepped forward as one of the $1 million winners from that night, and she chose her numbers differently in a way that made her stand out from the rest.

Rather than picking out her numbers based on a pattern on the play slip, she chose her own numbers after receiving them as a Quick Pick more than two years ago.

So when she purchased her ticket at Trotter's Whoa & Go Express IV on South 2nd Street in Ord, she requested a multi-draw ticket with those numbers from that former Quick Pick, just as she's always done for at least the past two years.

The Ord resident said she found out she was one of the dozens of winners on the evening of April 30.

"I was kind of shaky getting home," Trumbo told the Nebraska Lottery when she claimed her prize. "I still can't quite believe it."

The next Powerball annuity jackpot estimate for the drawing on Wednesday, May 6 currently stands at $30 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 Web site provides lottery players in-depth information about the United States's two biggest multi-state lottery games, Mega Millions and Powerball.

(Click to display full-size in gallery)Roberta Trumbo said she's been playing the same set of numbers for at least the past two years and originally came from a quick pick ticket and always buys her tickets for multiple drawings.