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Connecticut mom wins $500,000 in Powerball double play, becoming the state’s first major prize winner

A lucky Connecticut mom hits $500K in Powerball Double Play, a milestone win for the state.
posted by Soniya
Saturday 11/29/2025 at 1:42PM EST
  • LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JULY 20: A person poses for a photo beneath an enlarged symbolic check for $1.08 billion in Las Palmitas Mini Market on July 20, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. The $1.08 billion winning Powerball ticket was sold at the Las Palmitas Mini Market for the July 19th drawing. The jackpot is the third largest in Powerball history and was picked after three months of drawings without a winner. The mini market is located in the downtown Fashion District close to Skid Row. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
    LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JULY 20: A person poses for a photo beneath an enlarged symbolic check for $1.08 billion in Las Palmitas Mini Market on July 20, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. The $1.08 billion winning Powerball ticket was sold at the Las Palmitas Mini Market for the July 19th drawing. The jackpot is the third largest in Powerball history and was picked after three months of drawings without a winner. The mini market is located in the downtown Fashion District close to Skid Row. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

    A mom from Meriden, Connecticut, has won $500,000 in the Powerball Double Play game, and this win makes her the first major Double Play winner in the state. What makes her story even more surprising is that this was her first time ever playing Powerball.

    How one simple choice helped her win $500,000

    The CT Lottery did not share her name, but they said she bought her ticket at H&H Mart on Broad Street in Meriden. She went there to buy a Mega Millions ticket because the jackpot had reached $980 million. While she was buying that ticket, she also decided to buy a Powerball ticket.

    Since she had never played Powerball before, the store clerk helped her. He asked if she wanted to add the Double Playfeature. She didn’t know what it was, so she asked him what he suggested. He said Double Play was a good choice, so she added it. That one small decision is what helped her win $500,000.

    She told the CT Lottery that she plans to use her winnings to pay off her mortgage and help with her daughter’s wedding. She also said she is still shocked and can’t believe she won such a big prize the first time she played.

    How she won the half-Million Dollars

    Double Play is a new option in Connecticut Powerball games. It started this month and costs an extra $1. It gives players a second chance to win with the same numbers they used in the main Powerball drawing. The top prize in Double Play is $10 million.

    In the Double Play drawing, the woman matched all five black ball numbers. The numbers were:

    47, 17, 19, 53, and 61.

    She did miss the red Powerball number in Double Play, which means she did not win the full $10 million. But matching the five main numbers still gave her the $500,000 prize.

    Her win is now the first big Double Play win ever recorded in Connecticut.

    Powerball odds and the current jackpot

    The Powerball jackpot as of November 26 is $681 million, and the next drawing will take place on Wednesday night.

    The odds of winning any prize in Powerball or Double Play are about 1 in 24.9. But the odds of winning the full jackpot are extremely small — about 1 in 292 million. To make it easy to understand, experts say it is about 23 times more likely to be struck by lightning than to win the jackpot.

    TOPICS: Powerball


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