A Kentucky resident, who wished to remain anonymous, came forward last week with the winning $10 million Powerball ticket from the June 24th drawing.
The winner told lottery officials they regularly stop at their local retailer to play the lottery.
“I’m a creature of habit,” the player said. “I purchase my tickets before I go to work.”
The winner noticed when purchasing tickets from the Lottery vending machine that it gave the option to add the Double Play feature.
“I didn’t start playing it right away,” the winner said, who told lottery officials it was about four months ago that they began adding Double Play to their Powerball tickets. “It just popped up on the screen to add it, and I thought, ‘I think I’ll try,’” the winner said. “I’m sure glad I did!”
The winner found out the morning after the drawing they had the winning ticket.
“I got up and checked my phone and it said somebody had won the Powerball,” the winner said. “I said, ‘Oh my gosh,’ and it said, ‘Double Play,’ and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ I wrote the numbers down and I went and got my ticket. I looked at my ticket and looked at the numbers and I said, ‘Really, I can’t believe this.’”
The winning ticket matched the five white balls and the Powerball in the drawing for Double Play to win the $10 million top prize. The winning numbers were: 1 – 31 – 33 – 54 – 60 and Powerball 26.
“I sat there for about 10 minutes looking at the numbers and looking at my ticket and it was right,” the winner said. “I was overwhelmed and excited. Now I can retire!”
“That’s a big jackpot to me,” the winner said.
After taking a few weeks to seek financial and legal assistance, the winner claimed their prize and walked away with $7.2 million after taxes. They told officials they are looking forward to being able to retire and travel.
The winner offered some advice: “Buy Double Play, you have better chances of winning.”
The Kentucky Lottery added the Double Play feature for players at retail in November 2023. It became available for purchase online earlier this year.
“We are so excited about this $10 million win, both for our player and for longtime retailer Crestwood Circle K,” said Kentucky Lottery President and CEO Mary Harville. “We began offering this game add-on feature in November, and fortunately, it didn’t take long for one of our players to make history by hitting the Powerball Double Play top prize. This winning experience sends a great message to our players: you can win a life-changing $10 million top prize with Double Play!”
Since 2021 when the Powerball Double Play feature first became available to jurisdictions, there have only been four winners nationwide of the Powerball Double Play top prize of $10 million.
- Maryland: one win in 2021
- Florida: two wins in 2022
- Kentucky: one win in 2024
The $10 million winning ticket was purchased at Circle K off Hwy. 22 in Crestwood, Ky. The store received its $100,000 selling bonus Thursday, Aug. 8.
Circle K officials said they were delighted to be a part of this amazing, life-changing lottery experience for one of their customers.
“At Circle K, we are dedicated to offering products, services and programs that make our customers’ lives a little easier every day,” said Gayle Hughes, Circle K Regional Director of Operations. “We are proud to be an authorized Kentucky Lottery retailer. It’s a way to make the store experience for our customers even more fun and exciting. We couldn’t be happier that one of our valued customers has won ‘such a big prize’ of $10 million after buying a Powerball Double Play ticket in our Crestwood area store.”
Since 1999, more than $5 billion in Kentucky Lottery proceeds have funded college scholarships and grants for Kentucky college students. In 2024, the Kentucky Lottery paid out more than $1.5 billion in prizes.
Pictured: Kentucky Lottery President Mary Harville and Lottery Sales Team presents check to the Circle K team.