Concord, NH – A man who says he’s played Powerball for years claimed his check for $1 million at New Hampshire Lottery headquarters today. Barry Mueller of Greenville, NH used family birthdays for his five lucky numbers in Wednesday’s Powerball drawing. By spending an extra $1 to Power Play his bet, Mueller increased the normal five-number prize payout of $200,000 to $1 million.
“We’re very excited for Mr. Mueller. He’s been a longtime player of Powerball. He would drive to Rhode Island to get tickets before the game was offered in New Hampshire,” said Marketing Director Maura McCann. “He can attest to why so many people ‘Power play’ their tickets in hopes of increasing their winnings.”
Mueller purchased his winning ticket at Brookside Mobile in Wilton. He says his number combination, 1-6-10-13-20, is made up of the dates of his birthday and those of his significant other, Sue Middleton, and grandson, Michael Middleton. He says he has played that combination of numbers faithfully since his grandson was born ten years ago and he always spends the extra dollar to “Power Play” his tickets.
Mueller is has been a Department of Transportation employee for the past 8 years – Assistant Patrolman for Highway Maintenance in the Greenville office. He has been a resident of Greenville for the past 4 years, but has lived in NH for well over 35 years. He plans to use the money to pay some bills, buy Sue a new car, and get himself a new truck.
“This is not the end of the winnings. There is still $220 million up for grabs this holiday weekend in Saturday’s drawing,” said McCann. Between Powerball and Mega Millions, this will be the third time this year New Hampshire lottery players will be in the running for a jackpot worth more than $200 million.
Players who “Power Play” their tickets can increase their non-jackpot winnings by a factor of 2x, 3x, 4x, or 5x (depending on which Power Play ball is chosen). For the month of May a 10x Power Play ball is added to the mix. The Power Play number for Wednesday was 4, but players who match all 5 Powerball numbers and have Power Played automatically get $1 million.
Since 1964, the New Hampshire Lottery has had a significant financial impact on the state. For the past 46 years, the New Hampshire Lottery has recorded $4.1 billion in lottery sales and other earnings, with $2.7 billion being paid in prizes and other cost of sales. Net proceeds to education to date total more than $1.3 billion.
The New Hampshire Lottery Commission, located at 14 Integra Drive in Concord, currently manages all lottery operations in the state, including Instant games, New Hampshire POWERBALL®, Mega Millions® with Megaplier®, Tri-State Megabucks Plus®, Tri-State Weekly Grand®, Hot Lotto Sizzler®, and Tri-State Pick3/Pick4 Daily Numbers® games.
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