Staff Reports
This year has been lucky so far for a Bedford man, who won big after he bought lottery tickets in Jackson County.
Thomas Baurle said whenever he has a little extra money in his pocket, he likes to drive to his local Circle K on West Commerce Street in Brownstown to buy Hoosier Lottery quick picks.
After working overtime a couple of months ago, he wanted to make sure he had his lottery tickets in time for the Jan. 30 draw.
As he walked back to his car, he realized he had made a mistake and purchased Powerball quick picks instead of Hoosier Lottery.
“I was a little upset at first, but I got over it pretty fast,” Baurle said.
The following day, he went back to Circle K in Brownstown to see if he had won anything with his quick pick.
Upon arrival, he scanned the ticket at the kiosk and was greeted with the message, “Claim prize at Hoosier Lottery.”
Baurle thought that was pretty odd, so he asked the cashier if she could scan the ticket for him to see how much he had won.
The cashier scanned the ticket using the Hoosier Lottery app. When she saw the message on the screen, she gasped and gave Baurle the good news: He had just won $50,000.
Without realizing it, Baurle had been carrying around a Powerball ticket that matched all but one number from the previous night’s drawing.
“I got really excited and could not wait to tell my daughters and their families,” he said.
Everyone he has shared the good news with has been elated for him, and Baurle is looking forward to using much of the money to help his daughters and using the rest on a new pickup truck.
Pat Donavan, a retired system programmer from Scottsburg, also won playing Powerball back in January.
His winning ticket was purchased at Bulk Store/Marathon gas station at 190 N. Gardner St. in Scottsburg.
Donavan said he found himself wide awake at 3 a.m. Jan. 20 and decided to check the Powerball numbers on his phone.
He couldn’t believe his eyes when he looked at the numbers and realized his ticket matched four out of five numbers and he had won $50,000.
“I was so excited, but I had to be quiet because I didn’t want to wake up my wife. I wanted to wait until morning to tell her,” Donavan said.
He said he was incredibly excited to surprise his wife and plans to pay off his mother-in-law’s house with the money.
The overall odds of winning a prize playing Powerball is about 1 in 25, according to powerball.com.
The overall odds of winning a prize in Hoosier Lottery are approximately 1 in 6, according to hoosierlottery.com.
For more than 30 years, Hoosier Lottery distributions have benefited every county throughout Indiana.
The Hoosier Lottery has contributed more than $6 billion to good causes, including $30 million to local police and firefighters’ pensions and $30 million to the Teachers’ Retirement Fund annually.
To learn more about the Hoosier Lottery, visit hoosierlottery.com/givingback and follow on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.