Woman wins $1 million Powerball prize by mistake: ‘My heart was pounding!’

CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. (WDBJ/Gray News) - A Virginia woman won a $1 million lottery prize while playing a different game than she planned to.

According to the Virginia Lottery, Miriam Long wanted to buy a Mega Millions ticket as the jackpot was an estimated $893 million for one of the drawings in March.

But when she went to the Virginia Lottery machine at a CVS store on South Main Street in Blacksburg, she “accidentally” hit the button for a Powerball ticket.

That accidental ticket ended up matching the first five winning numbers in the March 18 Powerball drawing to cash the $1 million prize.

“It’s the best mistake of my life!” Long said.

The winning numbers were 10-17-20-39-44, and the Powerball number was 16, the only number she didn’t match.

Lottery officials said she used the Easy Pick option and allowed the computer to randomly select the numbers on her ticket.

When Long discovered how much she’d won, she said she couldn’t believe it.

“My heart was pounding!” she said. “It’s overwhelming!”

The store also received a $10,000 bonus for selling the winning Powerball ticket.

According to the Associated Press, a lucky person in New Jersey ultimately hit the Mega Millions jackpot for $1.13 billion in the March 26 drawing.

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