Isabella County Man Wins $250,000 Powerball Prize from the Michigan Lottery

“It’d never happen to me” is what an Isbella County man said when he heard someone in his town had won big playing Powerball, and then hours later he found out he was the winner of a $250,000 Powerball prize!

Thomas Pyrett, of Weidman, matched four white balls and the Powerball – 05-15-26-29-30, PB: 14 – in the Sept. 23 drawing to win a $50,000 prize. Thanks to the Power Play, the prize was multiplied to $250,000. He bought his winning ticket at Weidman EZ Mart, located at 3011 North Woodruff Road in Weidman. Weidman is about 15 miles northwest of Mount Pleasant.

“I went to the store to purchase one Powerball ticket, and the clerk accidentally printed two, so I told her I’d take both,” said Pyrett, 67. “The next day, a family member told me someone in our town had won a big Powerball prize, and I said: ‘Good for them! It’d never happen to me.’

“Later that day, I went to the store to check my ticket. When the clerk scanned it, he pulled me aside and showed me a message that said I had to visit the Lottery office to cash my ticket. I took the ticket over to my friend’s house and told him the message that came up when it was scanned, so he looked up the winnings numbers and told me I’d won $250,000. All I can say is winning is a really good feeling!”

Pyrett recently visited Lottery headquarters to claim his prize. With his winnings, he plans to pay off his house and then save the remainder.

Powerball plays may be purchased for $2 each at Lottery retailers across the state and online at MichiganLottery.com. A “Power Play” option that multiplies non-jackpot prizes by up to 10 times to a maximum of $2 million may be added to any Powerball play for only $1. For an additional $1 per play, Double Play may be added to a Powerball ticket, giving players a second chance to win up to $10 million in the nightly Double Play drawing.

The Powerball drawing takes place at 10:59 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday and may be watched live online at: http://www.powerball.com. Powerball tickets are sold in 45 states, Washington D.C., U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.