Retired soup maker celebrates $150,000 Powerball win with a Bloomin’ Onion

August 20, 2019 Posted by NC Lottery at 3:35 PM

Paul Jackson of Clio, South Carolina said he’s plans to celebrate his $150,000 Powerball prize with some good food.

“The first thing I’m going to do is take my family to dinner,” Jackson said. “We’ll head to Outback and get some steaks and a Bloomin’ Onion.”

The retired Campbell’s Tomato Soup maker lives near the border of North Carolina and enjoys getting his Powerball tickets at the Wagram Food Mart on North Main Street in Wagram in Scotland County. On Saturday, Aug. 10 he bought a $3 Power Play ticket for that night’s drawing. He forgot about the ticket until he went back to the store a week later.

“The first thing they asked when I walked in was if I had played the Powerball,” Jackson said. “They said someone bought a winning ticket worth $150,000. I figured I’d better check my ticket after I heard that.”

He went straight home and pulled the numbers up on the lottery’s website.

“I had a feeling I’d won,” Jackson said, “even before I checked the numbers. When I saw how much it was, I was in shock.”

He claimed the prize Tuesday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required state and federal tax withholdings, he took home $106,126. In addition to dinner, Jackson plans to use some of the money to pay bills.

His ticket matched numbers on four of the white balls and the Powerball to win $50,000. It tripled when the 3X multiplier was drawn. The ticket beat odds of one in 913,129. The jackpot for Wednesday’s Powerball drawing is $40 million or $28.6 million cash.

Ticket sales from draw games like Powerball make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $700 million a year for education. For details on how lottery funds made a difference in all of North Carolina’s 100 counties last year, click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website.

8 COMMENTS

8/24/2019 09:58 - NC Lottery

@Tim M. The release of public info on lottery winners is written into the state law that created the lottery. Only our state legislators have the authority to change those statutes.

8/23/2019 10:07 - Tim M.

@NC LOTTERY, I know you don't make the laws about whether you can claim anonymously or not. That being said, who are the exact people in NC government to contact about this? I know you talk about the integrity of the lottery, that real people win these prizes. This ain't Publisher's Clearing House, yadda, yadda, yadda. I added the PHC part but anyone that's ever spent time entering their drawings knows the futility of that. They supposedly have winners but you're hard pressed to ever see who they are. It gives the impression there's nothing to it. So I can see your point about transparency. However, I feel that safety trumps transparency. This way the long-lost cousins and axe murderers don't know you won unless you tell them. Remember Abraham Shakespeare? He was a $30 million Florida lottery winner who actually got about $16 million. He apparently gave much of his money away to about anyone who asked him. Then a greedy woman came into his life to 'manage' what he had left. He was then murdered.

8/22/2019 04:22 - Denver G.

Not sure. Don't live as close as I use to. Cam is still the man. But would like to see local boy Will Grier get some playing time and become the back up. But still love me some Cam.NC Lottery
Nice! We hope you are able to make it out, even though it's a bit of a drive.

8/22/2019 03:56 - Denver G.

:D :D :D THX. GO PANTHERS !!!!NC Lottery
Keep Pounding! Are you planning to go to any games this season, Denver?

8/22/2019 03:42 - Denver G.

FYI. NC is with the majority of the states that participate in state run lotteries. Fact check!!! Of the about 44 states, only about 7 give or take recent changes allow for winners to be anonymous. And for some states that is only for a limited amount of time (about 6 months).It is up to your elected government officials, not the NCEL. What say LZ? Do you confer with or dispute my findings?NC Lottery
Your numbers sound about right, Denver. A majority of states do not allow winners to claim anonymously. Like we mentioned in our other comment, it's important for lotteries to share information on winners because that helps protect the integrity and transparency of the process by ensuring that prizes are actually being paid out and that they are being paid to real people. The lottery does not have the power to make or change laws, we simply operate according to them.

8/21/2019 09:09 - Denver G.

Someone on another blog asked why no one in NC ever wins on the Lucky For Life game. So I went on the LFL website and put NC in the filter. Since NC was invited to be part of this MULTI STATE game in 2016. The top prize ($1000 a week) has been won twice. The 2nd tier prize ($25,000 a year) has been won 21 times. The 3rd $5000 , has been won way too many times to count. You're welcome.

8/20/2019 06:54 - Dwight M.

You're absolutely right Tim. I go the border just for the part of being anonymous. It would be nice if NC would adapt to this practice. Some people prefer safety over publicly. But as we both can see NC is lagging behind. So until this state does SC here we come. There's always more than one way to skin a chicken ??NC Lottery
We understand that the safety of our winners is an important concern which is why we work to find a balance between releasing what is required by law and only sharing what the winner is comfortable with beyond that. The lottery is conducting public business with a public mission and its operations will be most successful if folks know that real people are winning real prizes. Openness and transparency allows the public to hold the lottery accountable.

8/20/2019 04:16 - Tim M.

Doesn't this guy realize he can remain anonymous in SC? If I lived near the border I'd be playing them in SC and claiming them in SC. That doesn't mean I wouldn't play stuff here but the bigger games like Powerball would be a must to ONLY play across the border. Then if I won, a silhouette would claim the prize. LOL.

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Retired soup maker celebrates $150,000 Powerball win with a Bloomin’ Onion

August 20, 2019 Posted by NC Lottery at 3:35 PM