Powerball player goes back to store for forgotten ticket. It turns out to be a winner

Tierra Barley almost made an expensive mistake when she left her Powerball ticket behind at a Virginia supermarket, lottery officials said.

Luckily she went back.

Barley said she left the store and took her daughter to the park, then hurried back when she realized she had forgotten her Powerball ticket, according to the Virginia Lottery.

It ended up winning a third-tier prize of $50,000 in the Wednesday, May 8 drawing, lottery officials said May 23.

When Barley got back to the store, someone else buying Powerball tickets helped her get hers back, she said.

The Henrico mom matched four out of five white balls and the red Powerball using numbers “she once found in a fortune cookie,” lottery officials said.

The Powerball jackpot is expected to hit $120 million in the Saturday, May 25 drawing.

Henrico County is part of the Richmond metropolitan area.

What to know about Powerball

To score a 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 May 23, 2024 at 2:18 PM with the headline "Powerball player goes back to store for forgotten ticket. It turns out to be a winner."