#powerball Portland, Oregon man wins $1 million Powerball prize

January 11th, 2016

The afternoon the Powerball jackpot was upgraded to $800 million, a Portland man claimed a $1 million Powerball prize.

Joe Watson purchased his ticket at the Lombard Market in Portland and said he couldn't believe he walked around for three days before checking the ticket.

"When I checked it, I couldn't believe the number that came up. I have never seen a number that large," Watson said. "I kept having people check the ticket. We did it five times. I had to bend over to catch my breath."

Watson hit five of five numbers, but missed the Powerball. After taxes, Watson took home $670,000. The odds of him winning that prize were one in 11,688,053.52.

"If my friend had been with me I would have gotten a PowerPlay option and this would have been $2 million, but then I might not have won at all, so who knows," Watson said. "All I know is that this is great!"

Watson, who lives in Portland, became the second Powerball millionaire in the past month. Monte Berry of Gresham won a $2 million Powerball jackpot December 12. Unlike Watson, Berry did add the PowerPlay multiplier option to double his prize.

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