# One person won the $315, 000, 000.00 Powerball. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 26, 2002, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-person-won-the-315-000-000-00-powerball/144988 "2002-12-26T17:24:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-person-won-the-315-000-000-00-powerball/144988/1 "2002-12-26T17:24:48Z")
> **[MSNBC News - Breaking News and News Today | Latest News](https://www.msnbc.com/)** > > MSNBC breaking news and the latest news for today. Get daily news from local news reporters and world news updates with live audio & video from our team. All I can say is “Holy Shit”. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-person-won-the-315-000-000-00-powerball/144988/2 "2002-12-26T17:31:06Z")
If I were that person, the first thing I would buy is a solid gold helicopter. ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-person-won-the-315-000-000-00-powerball/144988/3 "2002-12-26T17:32:32Z")
170 Million cash payout IIRC…not bad for a days’ work. All it means to me is the tix my coworkers bought on Tuesday didn’t win:( ---
**Author:** ![Thunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a8b319/32.png) [@Thunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thunder)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-person-won-the-315-000-000-00-powerball/144988/4 "2002-12-26T17:48:58Z")
Hmmmm… Based on the weight of gold, wouldn’t a solid gold helicopter fly like the proverbial lead balloon? ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-person-won-the-315-000-000-00-powerball/144988/5 "2002-12-26T17:57:51Z")
This is stupid. They should give 315 people a million dollars each. Or 630 people $500,000 each. Or even 1,260 people $250,000 each. That’s plenty of money to change someone’s life and it gives more people a chance to win. Besides, isn’t it dangerous to give one random doofus so much money at once? ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-person-won-the-315-000-000-00-powerball/144988/6 "2002-12-26T18:00:26Z")
I only matched one number. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-person-won-the-315-000-000-00-powerball/144988/7 "2002-12-26T18:02:24Z")
Whoever it is should buy a rocket car and a solid gold house a’la Chester J. Lampwick. Guess I’ll be going to work tomorrow after all. ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-person-won-the-315-000-000-00-powerball/144988/8 "2002-12-26T18:09:57Z")
The good news is, the ticket was sold in the town my best friend lives in. 🙂 The bad news is, it wasn’t sold to her. ☹ I must admit, getting the winning ticket would have solved a lot of my problems, and paid for trips to Maine, North Carolina, England, and Hawaii. Oh well. I guess I’ll just have to do it the old fashioned way and earn it. CJ ---
**Author:** ![Darkrabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3be4f8/32.png) [@Darkrabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darkrabbit)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-person-won-the-315-000-000-00-powerball/144988/9 "2002-12-26T18:15:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MikeG \* > **170 Million cash payout IIRC…not bad for a days’ work…** $117 million after taxes, FYI. I bought five tickets, didn’t match any numbers at all. Twenty five numbers, none of them matched the five in the powerball. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-person-won-the-315-000-000-00-powerball/144988/10 "2002-12-26T18:16:13Z")
Imagine the _frisson_ of non-belief I felt this morning when NPR announced that only one person had won it and the ticket was purchased in West Virginia. _I_ purchased my tix in West Virginia. It was all a pipe dream but just for that minute… ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-person-won-the-315-000-000-00-powerball/144988/11 "2002-12-26T18:37:32Z")
It wasn’t me, was it? Can’t check my numbers, cause I didn’t buy a ticket. ---
**Author:** ![Skerri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Skerri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skerri)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-person-won-the-315-000-000-00-powerball/144988/12 "2002-12-26T19:44:04Z")
If I won the Powerball, I’d: Pay off all my parents’ bills, and set them up for life. Send one last check to the student loan people with “F. U.” written in the note area. Buy myself a car and a house. (In Baltimore :D) Sock away the rest of the money. Oh, and just to be a complete and total bitch, I’d find the two girls who were my best friends in high school that turned into psychos, and I’d give them both a dollar, and tell them to have a nice life. ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-person-won-the-315-000-000-00-powerball/144988/13 "2002-12-26T20:49:44Z")
This just in: the winner is a 55 year old **self-made millionaire**. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. ---
**Author:** ![Splanky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@Splanky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Splanky)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-person-won-the-315-000-000-00-powerball/144988/14 "2002-12-26T22:06:32Z")
He said he spent 100+ dollars for every powerball in which the prize was over 100 million. Supposedly he started his own business and made a lot of money with it. At least some hobo who doesn’t deserve it didn’t win it. ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-person-won-the-315-000-000-00-powerball/144988/15 "2002-12-26T22:28:53Z")
In what way does a business owner deserve to _win the freaking lottery_ in any way more than does a ‘hobo’? Is there something required besides spending a dollar on a ticket that I never heard about? ---
**Author:** ![XJETGIRLX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9fc29f/32.png) [@XJETGIRLX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XJETGIRLX)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-person-won-the-315-000-000-00-powerball/144988/16 "2002-12-26T22:31:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by White Lightning \* > \*\*In what way does a business owner deserve to _win the freaking lottery_ in any way more than does a ‘hobo’? Is there something required besides spending a dollar on a ticket that I never heard about? \*\* I saw the press conference earlier. He owns some sort of sewage/waste treatment facility. If you’re looking at this mostly in terms of who ‘deserves’ to win this lottery, you might want to take into account that he said that one of the first things he was going to do is re-hire all the 25 workers he had to let go over the past year due to the bad economy. I’d think that’s a fairly deserving act. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-person-won-the-315-000-000-00-powerball/144988/17 "2002-12-26T22:52:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by World Eater \* > \*\*If I were that person, the first thing I would buy is a solid gold helicopter. \*\* > [@](#): > > ``` > “I JUST WANT to thank God for letting me pick the right numbers — or letting the machine pick the right numbers,” said Whittaker, a resident of Scott Depot. > Whittaker said that after giving 10 percent of his gross winnings to three Church of God pastors, he would share the rest with his family, perhaps expand his businesses — **and maybe buy a helicopter**. > > ``` You’re freakin me out maaann!! ---
**Author:** ![Ins\_Outs\_What-have-yous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8797f3/32.png) [@Ins\_Outs\_What-have-yous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ins_Outs_What-have-yous)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-person-won-the-315-000-000-00-powerball/144988/18 "2002-12-26T23:41:13Z")
The winning ticket was bought 20 miles from my apartment, and I’ve driven past that convenience store several times in the past several years! ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-person-won-the-315-000-000-00-powerball/144988/19 "2002-12-27T00:09:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by \*\*XJETGIRLX \*\*\* > If you’re looking at this mostly in terms of who ‘deserves’ to win this lottery, you might want to take into account that he said that one of the first things he was going to do is re-hire all the 25 workers he had to let go over the past year due to the bad economy. I’d think that’s a fairly deserving act. Well, personally, I don’t consider ‘deserving to win the lottery’ a quality that’s very meaningful, since the only people who in my mind ‘deserve’ to win the lottery are the people that match all the numbers in the drawing. You want to talk about who’s a good guy and who in this world I wish good things on, we can talk about that. Personally I don’t think that’s what **Splanky** meant, but I’ve been wrong before. Furthermore, I don’t think a ‘hobo’ is necessarily a person that I wouldn’t like to see succeed in life. ---
**Author:** ![monica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@monica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monica)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-person-won-the-315-000-000-00-powerball/144988/20 "2002-12-27T05:05:33Z")
Am I the only doper who would donate a good chunk of the money to charity? I can’t possibly think that I am; yet, no one else has posted that they would. ~monica [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-person-won-the-315-000-000-00-powerball/144988.md?page=2)