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70-year-old Delaware woman claims $100,000 lottery prize — then wins $300,000 more on her way home

Powerball jackpot hits record $1.9 billion
Powerball jackpot hits record $1.9 billion 00:21

As people anxiously await to see who will take home the record-breaking $1.9 billion Powerball prize, one lucky person in Delaware had a major win from scratch-offs. Delaware Lottery officials announced that a 70-year-old woman got the prize of a lifetime last month after she won $100,000 from scratch-off tickets — and then after buying more to celebrate, won another $300,000.   

The woman, who lives in Newark but wished to remain anonymous according to lottery officials, won her first prize of $100,000 from two Ultimate Cash tickets she purchased at a Speedy Gas station. A week later on October 20, she and her best friend went to the lottery headquarters to claim her prize – the most she's won in the seven years she's been playing the state lottery. 

On their way home, she purchased three more tickets, this time of the Serious Money game. From those tickets, she got a surprise bonus – another $300,000. 

"My best friend was the first person I told about winning the $100,000 top prize and she came with me to claim it," the woman told Delaware Lottery officials. "When I scratched the $300,000 winning Serious Money ticket later in the day, we just sat there in disbelief. It was absolute insanity." 

The woman told Delaware Lottery that she wants to use most of the money for her retirement fund. 

"I love scratching Instant Game tickets!" she told lottery officials. 

The Powerball on the other hand, continues to keep people around the nation on edge. As drawings keep turning out no winners, the jackpot has grown to $1.9 billion – the largest jackpot in the world. A drawing was scheduled for Monday night, but was delayed because a participating state needed more time to process sales. 

When able, officials will post the winning numbers on the Powerball website and YouTube channel.

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