19-Year-Old Florida Man, First-Time Player Wins $2M Powerball

Lottery officials say a 19-year-old central Florida man and first-time lottery player used the numbers off someone else’s unpurchased Powerball ticket to win $2 million.

Frederick Walker said there was already a completed play slip at the Sav-A-Ton in Lake Mary where he purchased his ticket and decided to try his hand using those numbers.

“When I heard about the billion dollar Powerball jackpot, I decided to try my luck and buy a ticket,” Walker told the lottery.

He matched five numbers in Wednesday’s drawing to win $1 million, but added an extra feature which doubled his prize to $2 million.

“How lucky that the first time I played, I won,” he said.

This recent series of Powerball rollovers has generated historically high jackpots, causing a bit of lottery fever across the country.

A small-town Tennessee couple bought one of three magic tickets splitting the world-record $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot. John and Lisa Robinson said they don’t plan to quit their jobs or buy a new house.

Lottery officials said no one has produced the other winning tickets sold in Florida and California.

Wednesday night’s drawing also produced 11 $1 million winners in Florida. Lottery officials said Florida has produced more Powerball winners than any other state since joining the game in 2009.