Couple stares at each other for hours after winning huge lottery prize. ‘Shock’
A North Carolina man and his wife were left shocked after realizing how much they won on a Powerball ticket.
Michael King always plays the same meaningful numbers, according to an Oct. 8 news release from the North Carolina Education Lottery.
“I have played the same numbers forever,” he told lottery officials. “It is a combination of me and my wife’s birthdays and when we were married.”
King played those numbers for the Sept. 27 Powerball drawing at a store in Hendersonville. He matched four numbers plus the Powerball.
Because he purchased the Power Play, his $50,000 prize was doubled to $100,000. He immediately told his wife.
“I said, ‘I think we won the lottery,’” he told officials. “She was in shock and awe.”
The couple couldn’t believe their lucky win was real.
“We just sat there for a few hours staring at each other,” King said.
After taxes he took home $71,757.
Hendersonville is about a 105-mile drive west from Charlotte.
What to know about Powerball
To score the 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 October 8, 2025 at 3:57 PM with the headline "Couple stares at each other for hours after winning huge lottery prize. ‘Shock’."
