Great Lakes Wire

A man from Berrien County, Michigan, has won a $150,000 Powerball prize on his second time playing the game. Michael Werner of Buchanan matched four white balls and the Powerball—08-23-25-40-53 PB: 05—in the September 1 drawing. The base prize of $50,000 was tripled to $150,000 because Werner had added the Power Play option to his ticket. He purchased his winning ticket online at MichiganLottery.com.

“This was only my second time ever playing Powerball,” Werner said. “My first time was the drawing before this one, so I used my winnings from that to purchase this ticket. I played my own set of numbers, so when I was looking at the results the next day, I recognized them right away.

“It was hard to believe, so I had my brother double check what I was seeing and then I logged into my lottery account and saw my $150,000 balance!”

Werner recently visited Lottery headquarters to claim his prize. He said he plans to use his winnings for travel and paying bills.

Powerball tickets can be purchased for $2 each at retailers throughout Michigan or online at MichiganLottery.com. Players can add the Power Play option for an additional $1 per play, which multiplies non-jackpot prizes by up to 10 times up to a maximum of $2 million. Another option is Double Play for an extra $1 per play, giving players a chance at up to $10 million in nightly drawings.

Powerball drawings are held every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday at 10:59 p.m., and they can be watched live online at http://www.powerball.com. Tickets are available in 45 states as well as Washington D.C., U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.