From birthday luck to dream-inspired intuition: NJ winners share their joyful tales

By Kate Northrop

The New Jersey Lottery has been reporting a slew of winners skipping through their doors to claim prizes of $1 million and more after one Powerball drawing in April resulted in a "Night of Millionaires."

After the April 29 Powerball drawing produced 89 second-tier prize winners of at least $1 million, 15 out of 18 New Jersey lottery winners have claimed their winnings, each coming in with their own unique story.

An interesting number combination produced almost 100 second-tier prize winners in a single Powerball drawing, leading two tickets from Kansas and Indiana to split a $143.4 million jackpot. While Indiana ranked as the state with the greatest number of second-tier prize winners of at least $1 million at 19 winning tickets, New Jersey came in second at 18.

Of those 18 winners in New Jersey, four of them doubled their prize to $2 million because they added the Power Play option to their ticket for an extra dollar.

The New Jersey Lottery found that many of the winners revealed that they did fill out the play slip with numbers straight down in a straight line, matching all white ball numbers 3, 19, 35, 51, and 67 in the draw.

The 15 anonymous winners who have come forward so far have disclosed a variety of ways they plan on using the winnings, from buying a home to paying off debts to covering medical expenses. It's also given winners the opportunity to start their retirement early.

One of the first winners to claim their prize in May had rented a car just for the day to drive to Lottery offices to file their claim, and while there, he told Lottery officials that he was going to buy a car of his own.

And although the win was a first for many, one was lucky enough to have won big already. Just earlier this year, he had split a Jersey Cash 5 jackpot with another player.

Remarkably, one other winner did not pick their numbers according to a pattern on the play slip, rather they chose them because they were connected to their birthday. They plan on using the prize to pay off their home and support family.

"I always try to do the right thing, and I guess the universe was paying attention," that player said to Lottery staff, relaying that they believed the win was "karma for a really good deed."

Rather than karma, a different player who won $2 million said that it was thanks to their stubbornness that they won. They'd been playing that same set of numbers for years, but their partner had actually tried to encourage them to switch them up.

"My wife kept telling me to pick new numbers, but I told her, 'No way, these numbers are going to win,'" the player laughed. "And wouldn't you know it, they hit the very next drawing!"

Then, another $1 million winner came to Lottery officials with an extraordinary story, what the Lottery called "destiny with a six-month delay."

"I had this vivid dream where I was winning the lottery, and the numbers were crystal clear," the winner recalled in a press release.

They purchased a ticket with those five numbers the following morning but were disappointed to find that they didn't win, so the play slip went temporarily forgotten in their dresser.

Six months pass, and the player rediscovers it while shuffling things around.

"Something just told me to try those numbers one more time," they added. "I guess I got a million reasons why listening to that little voice was the right decision."

The most recent claimant is a winner who had always dreamed of becoming a homeowner. Since it's never been within the realm of possibility for them, winning $1 million made it "the best surprise of [their] life." They were eager to see the winnings make their way into their bank account so they could begin house hunting.

"Until then, it just feels like a beautiful dream," they said. "I keep asking my family to pinch me."

The New Jersey Lottery is waiting for just three more winners of $1 million to come forward with their prize-winning tickets from the April 29 Powerball drawing and are urging players to check their tickets carefully.

"We can't wait to meet our final three millionaires and hear their stories," Lottery Executive Director James A. Carey said in a statement. "The winners we've met so far have shared incredible stories of birthday luck, dream inspired intuition, or good old-fashioned persistence. These experiences remind us that lottery dreams really come true. We know there are three more amazing stories out there, and we hope those winners check their tickets soon."

Lottery players in New Jersey have one year from the draw date to collect prizes.

The next Powerball annuity jackpot estimate for the drawing on Wednesday, June 3 currently stands at $194 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)The New Jersey Lottery published the locations where each of the 15 "Night of Millionaires" Powerball winners purchased their tickets in the state.