Williamston man wakes up to $100,000 Powerball win

August 16, 2018 Posted by NC Lottery at 3:46 PM

Richard Silverthorne woke up Thursday morning, turned on the news on WITN, and as he watched a report on the winning Powerball numbers discovered he was a $100,000 winner.

“It was sort of hard to believe at first,” said Silverthorne, who works in facility maintenance for a local food processing company. “I re-checked it. Several times.”

Silverthorne said he almost missed the drawing. When he stopped at the Country Mart on N.C. 903 North in Stokes, he bought his regular Pick 3 ticket and started to leave. Then, realizing it was a Wednesday, he turned around and asked for a $3 Power Play ticket.

The Quick Pick ticket matched four of the white balls and the red Powerball in Wednesday’s drawing for a $50,000 win. When the 2X multiplier was picked, his Power Play ticket doubled the win.

Silverthorne got a co-worker to confirm the win at work and then asked for the rest of the day off. A single father since the death of his wife, he picked up his daughter and headed to Raleigh to claim his prize.

He said he planned to pay some bills, buy his daughter a better car − perhaps a Dodge Dart – and take the vacation they didn’t get to take this year. The prize money might also help cover the cost of his daughter’s senior trip.

Silverthorne’s good luck beat odds of 1 in 913,129, making him the biggest winner in North Carolina in the drawing. After state and federal tax withholdings, he took home $70,502.

Saturday’s Powerball jackpot now stands at $50 million, or $30.1 million in cash.

17 COMMENTS

8/20/2018 07:19 - Berry B.

Congrats Mr Silverthorne!!

8/20/2018 07:09 - Tatiana D.

It is kind of strange to expect to win in second chance drawing or in any lottery game just because you entered or bought the ticket. This is a game of chance. For example, I won in second chance drawing for Home Depot gift card with just 110 entries. It was a big and unexpected surprise for me. I also entered many other second chance drawings, in fact, I specifically buy second chance tickets and enter all drawings that are offered. In some drawings I had more than 1000 entries, but never won anything. This is perfectly fine. This is a game, and everyone has to remember that you play first of all for fun, for the thrill of it. If you start spending your rent money or stop paying your bills because of the lottery something is very wrong.

8/20/2018 05:14 - Hatice K.

Why are some lottery players losing hope on second chance winning? The more you enter Extreme Millions tickets, the more you have entered to be drawn on Extreme Millions. I have entered almost 30 Extreme Millions tickets for me to win on Septembers drawn. Maybe some of you don't understand how to enter for second chance winner drawings?

8/19/2018 10:12 - Maurice H.

Bless you!

8/19/2018 07:55 - Ivy C.

Hi there, Eric. Your odds don’t improve based upon the number of tickets you buy. The odds are the same for each individual ticket and are printed on the back of the ticket and are for the entire printing run of the game. If the odds are 1 in 4, it does not mean that one out of every four tickets is a winner. You could buy four tickets and lose on all four, win on all four, or somewhere in between. That's why we never recommend buying multiple tickets in a row. It takes luck to win a prize -- big or small. It's not easier to win the lottery in a big place than a small one. There are just more people taking a chance to win there. We can assure you that if you move to Raleigh it does not become easier to win a lottery prize there. The lottery can only work if everyone has the same chance to win, and no matter where you live you have the same chance to beat the odds as someone any place else! And if playing the lottery is not fun, we absolutely recommend to take a break!

8/18/2018 08:29 - ERIC T.

NCEL you say it takes a lot of luck to win big how about spending $40.00 on the first 8 tickets on the Carolina panthers tickets and only winning $5.00 off you call that luck I call that bogus you say it's for entertainment but in reality it's people in Raleigh and other towns that are closer to you guys who win the big prizes I think you guys are lying to North Carolinans in order for them to keep playing but I won't be fooled anymore you WILL no longer get my money for these stupid scratch offs and no more lottery tickets I suggest the people that do play keep on playing if you want too but as for me the lottery corporation is NOT getting anymore of my hard earned money. There's no such thing as luck you make your own by going out and producing your own luck. I will start by doing my own luck. Hopefully my mom doesn't lose her job or her housing.Goodbye NCEL

8/18/2018 08:28 - Denver G.

To Shanaja. Beside the NCEL logo where it says "play now". below that click on the "promotions & drawings" tab. Click on the "more" on the extreme millions for all the details. If that is not enough info for you. At the bottom of that page, click on the blue. Please see the "Extreme Millions Second Chance Promotion" Rules for complete details. A pdf file will come up with more detailed rules. Read paragraph 3 & 6.

8/18/2018 06:51 - Eboni D.

Congrats to a home town winner. I grew up in Williamston. Martin county on the map! Congrats!

8/17/2018 10:08 - Landa R.

Congrats Mr. Silverthorne! You daughter sure does have a great father. I have always said that if I would win some money I too would take care of my children and make them extremely happy!

8/17/2018 04:17 - Sarah B.

@SHANAJA A.: We want to help you get this figured out! Entries for previous Extreme Millions second-chance drawings do not count toward the entry total for the current Extreme Millions drawing. What web page are you on when you try to view those entries? Please double-check that you are selecting "All" from the drop down menu on the "Draws" page to view entries for past drawings in addition to current ones. Please let us know if that answers your question!

8/17/2018 03:09 - Shanaja A.

I am extremely frustrated with the NC Education lottery. I emailed my concern and after instructions from the email I called the number provided and asked to speak with a supervisor. Needless to say I have been using this new site and it shows that I only have 2 entries for the upcoming Extreme Millions second chance drawing. I have participated in the previous ones with the least amount of tickets entered showing 317. I called so that this could be investigated and corrected but they want to make it seem like a user error which it is not. I’ve been entering these drawing and participating in these games for years and now against all odds I have even more odds because they’re not giving me credit for all of the entries that I’ve entered and they have no freaking solutions. Players please beware. This is not fair and I can’t believe that there’s no solutions. Pissed off is an understatement. NC Lottery
Please see our comment above!

8/17/2018 08:55 - Michael B.

Congratulations, Mr. Silverthorne on your $100,00 win. Just wondering if this is the biggest NC Powerball win to date, how much was the last one and what year did it occur in? NC Lottery
Great question Michael, It is not the largest Powerball winner in NC – we have actually had a few jackpot winners in years past! Our first jackpot winner was in November 2006. Jackie Alston of Halifax won $74.5 million. The second jackpot winner was in June 2009, winning $88.1 million – that prize went to Jeff Wilson of Kings Mountain. In February 2010 we had another jackpot winner. Frank Griffin of Asheville received $141 million. Finally, Marie Holmes of Shallotte claimed a $188 million jackpot in February 2015.

8/16/2018 09:54 - carolyn b.

CAN YOU PLEASE ALWAYS PUT THE CO. THAT THE WINNERS ARE FROM.....AND NOT JUST EXAMPLE A WILLIAMSTON MAN ...WE DONT KNOW EVERY PART OF THE STATE....THANKSNC Lottery
Hi Carolyn, Sorry about that! Williamston is in Martin County.

8/16/2018 06:55 - Brian L.

@Eric T. Agree with NC Lottery. Don't play above your means. With a lot of the money you spent on the lottery, you could have put it into an IRA for retirement and get a huge return after a few decades.

8/16/2018 05:30 - greg s.

what takes so long to update the scratch off winners list on the website. it is now aug.16 and the latest winner is aug. 3! as big and professional the ncel is,it should be updated sooner. I like to see where winners are being sold and make my scratch off picks accordinglyNC Lottery
Hi Greg, Our apologies for the delay in updating that. You should see those pages update shortly.

8/16/2018 04:55 - Shemeka K.

Congratulations Mr Silverthorne you deserve it!

8/16/2018 04:15 - ERIC T.

I like to say congrats and I seriously getting annoyed not being able to win a thing that high I play and play and play and then nothing not even the lucke rewards drawings not even the second chance dang if I knew you had to spend your entire paycheck on this I would have reconsidered playing I would like to win so I can pay my bills off,pay my mom's house off cause she maybe on the verge of losing her job,and take a needed vacation but doesn't look like that will happen.I guess I'll just keep hoping that one day it will happen but the positivity is fading off really slowly NC Lottery
Hi Eric, We encourage folks to play for fun, not to spend more on playing lottery games than they can afford for entertainment. It takes a lot of luck to win a big prize like this and we wish you all the best.

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Williamston man wakes up to $100,000 Powerball win

August 16, 2018 Posted by NC Lottery at 3:46 PM