Powerball player won big prize on her first try in NC — then ‘hardly slept that night’
A Powerball player experienced beginner’s luck in North Carolina when she won a huge prize on her first try with the game, lottery officials said.
Sydney Davis, of Hurdle Mills, matched four numbers and the Powerball to win $50,000 in the Jan. 29 drawing, the North Carolina Education Lottery said in a Jan. 31 news release. A Power Play ticket tripled her prize to $150,000.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Davis told lottery officials.
She bought her ticket at a convenience store in Hurdle Mills, about a 25-mile drive northwest from Durham, lottery officials said.
“We all hardly slept that night after that,” Davis said.
No one won the jackpot in the Jan. 29 drawing, according to the Powerball website.
The jackpot as of Jan. 31 is worth an estimated $89 million, and the next drawing is Feb. 1, according to the website.
What to know about Powerball
To score the jackpot in the Powerball, a player must match all five white balls and the red Powerball.
The odds of scoring the jackpot prize are 1 in 292,201,338.
Tickets can be bought on the day of the drawing, but sales times and price vary by state.
Drawings are broadcast Saturdays, Mondays and Wednesdays at 10:59 p.m. ET and can be streamed online.
Powerball is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
This story was originally published January 31, 2025 at 5:50 PM with the headline "Powerball player won big prize on her first try in NC — then ‘hardly slept that night’."
