Less than a day before the Powerball ticket expired, William Greer of Philadelphia claimed his $200,000 because his mother told him to check his tickets.
Store manager Sue Choi of Choi’s Food and Beer in Wynnefield told KYW Wednesday that Greer, who said he was sent by his mother to verify the numbers, walked into the store Wednesday and said he was the $200,000 winner.
The Pennsylvania Lottery confirmed the validity of Greer's ticket Thursday, just in the nick of time. The ticket was set to expire at 4:30 p.m. today.
“My mother saw the news about the unclaimed ticket set to expire, knew the store that sold the ticket is where I play and told me to check my old tickets,” said Greer in a press release. “The first couple of tickets I checked were not winners, but the last one matched the numbers my mother gave me. I started shaking when I checked the numbers against the Lottery’s Web site.”
Greer’s ticket correctly matched all five white balls, 09-12-31-39-52, for a $200,000 prize, less 25 percent federal withholding.
Choi Food & Beer will receive a $500 bonus for selling the winning ticket.
We think Mrs. Greer should get a big piece of the prize as well.
