What's in a Dame

Lady luck presents lucky lady math test

You are reading the column of a winner. A lottery winner!

I won big in Wednesday's Powerball. In fact, I could be idling at my new tropical estate after a flight on my private jet. But here I am, dutifully writing my newspaper column out of charity.

Clearly I didn't secure the $1.586 billion grand prize. Nor did anyone who bought tickets in Arkansas. The three winning tickets were sold in Chino Hills, Calif., Munford, Tenn., and Melbourne Beach, Fla., to people who will now share the colossal kitty, each receiving a sum -- before taxes -- of $528.8 million over 30 years or a one-time payment of $327.8 million.

Still, there are eight other ways to win money; Powerball awards set cash amounts to those with certain number combinations, ranging from $4 up to $1 million.

According to the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery, five $100,000 tickets and one $50,000 ticket were sold in Arkansas for Wednesday's drawing. There were 171,386 total winning tickets bought in the state. And I held not just one of them, but two! And least I maybe sorta thought I might.

A novice, I had bought losing tickets the previous Saturday (gulp, I think they were losers; I recycled before I learned about the secondary prizes). I had no clue what I was doing. How long do I have to buy tickets? Where do I even go to get tickets? Can I use a credit card? How are numbers chosen? How many can I get for $20? Oh, six with the multiplier and one without? OK. What is a multiplier?

I still didn't understand the process much better when I stopped at a gas station (with cash -- so, no on that card question) in midtown Little Rock on Wednesday. I got a joint tutorial from the attendant and the customer in front of me: The multiplier, or Power Play option, costs $1 more and allows winners to increase original prize amounts, except the jackpot. Ahh, got it. Kinda. I'd buy six $3 tickets with the multiplier and a $2 ticket without.

At 9:59 p.m., I was in front of the TV with my tickets, pen and paper and my iPad with Powerball.com's "Prizes and Odds" page pulled up for quick reference. The guy rattled off the numbers "Four ... eight ... 19 ... 27 ... 34 ... 10."

I looked. I checked the rules. I got moderately excited. I looked again. I checked the rules again.

I had a winner!

No! I was a double winner!

Oooh, I had the multiplier on both! I was a quadruple winner.

I just had to share with everyone on Facebook (which big winners are not advised to do) and I just had to collect my winnings the next day (which big winners are advised not to do).

I stopped at the gas station closest to my house. To take my treasure. And to say goodbye. I'd never be seeing them after I relocated to the castle I'd buy.

To be sure that I wouldn't embarrass myself, I swiped my ticket under their winnings scanner. It confirmed my victory!

I approached the attendant with all the restraint and humility I could muster.

"I'M RICH!" I warbled, waving the ticket around. The nonplussed employee scanned and verified it, validating me.

"Winner, winner, chicken dinner!" he said with a smile, retrieving gorgeous green bills from the register and counting them out.

Maybe it wasn't $1.6 million. But it was close.

It was $16.

Yep, that's it. I had the Power Ball number (10) on two tickets, which earned me two $4 rewards ($8 total). With the 2x multiplier, I was up to $16, barely enough to cover a fast-food chicken dinner.

Still, it was $16 I didn't have before!

Not exactly. After all, I spent $20 on the tickets. So I didn't win $16 so much as I lost $4.

Let me revisit my opening.

Ahem ... In fact, I'd never want to be idling at a tropical estate after a flight on a private jet -- not when I could be here writing the column the newspaper generously allows me to have out of charity.

Play ball, email:

[email protected]

What's in a Dame is a weekly report from the woman 'hood. You can hear Jennifer on Little Rock's KURB-FM, B98.5 (B98.com), from 5:30-9 a.m. Monday through Friday.

Style on 01/19/2016

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