A retired mechanic from Schuyler County, New York, fixed himself up with a big win when he purchased a ticket for the June 4, 2014, US Powerball drawing.
Doid Kerns, 74, purchased his winning Quick Pick ticket from the Dandy Mart on County Route 79 in Burdett. He returned there on Tuesday so that New York Lottery announcer Yolanda Vega could present him with his winner's check.
Somewhat of a lotto-holic, Kerns admits to buying lottery tickets most days, but his many years of placing numbers for Take 5, Mega Millions and Powerball had never netted him more than $1,000.
All that changed when he successfully matched all five of the numbers drawn on June 4 and secured a second tier win of $1 million. If he'd managed to get the Powerball as well he would scooped the $192 million jackpot.
The jackpot may have escaped him, but Kerns did manage to win a more modest $7 prize on a different line of his winning ticket.
Kerns discovered he was a winner the day after the draw when he popped into a grocery store and ran the ticket through a self-checker. When the display showed $1,000,007 couldn't believe his luck.
"I had the guy double-check on his machine and he said 'Wow,'" Kerns said.
Kerns opted to take his prize as a one-off, lump-sum payment of $661,804 after state and federal taxes.
When Yolanda Vega asked Kerns how he felt when he discovered he'd won only one word would do.
"Happy," he said.
The next US Powerball drawing is on Saturday, July 26, 2014. The estimated jackpot is $50 million.
