GREENSBORO, N.C. — Lucky numbers connected to important dates in Craig Bennett's life produced a $150,000 Powerball win for the cleaning supplies salesman.
“They all had relevance to me,” said Bennett. “… It was really weird.”
For example, one number, he said, was No. 3 that stood for March, the month he was born. A second, No. 47, stood for his age when he got his new job. And a third, No. 64, matched the year he was born.
Bennett’s $3 Power Play ticket matched numbers on four of the white balls and the Powerball to win $50,000 in the Dec. 14 drawing. His prize then tripled when the 3X multiplier was drawn.
Bennett bought his lucky ticket at the Great Stops on North Church Street in Greensboro while driving home from work.
He first stowed the ticket in a John Grisham novel until he discovered his win the day after the drawing. From there he bought a safe to keep his $150,000 ticket secure and sought the advice of a financial adviser.
"When I buy a lottery ticket, I, like everyone else, think about what I’d do with all that money,” said Bennett. After the required federal and state withholdings, he received a check for $106,126 when he claimed his prize Friday.
Bennett said he will pay off bills and take a “little vacation” somewhere. Then, he plans to help his twins pay for college.
Bennett's ticket beat odds of one in 913,129 and became the top Powerball prize won in North Carolina in the drawing. In all, 19,773 prizes were won in the state with prizes ranging from $4 to $150,000.
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