Baltimore – Robert Harnek has the good fortune of having a serious Maryland Lottery player for a best friend. The Harford County engineer rarely buys Lottery tickets, except when the two hang out, and then he only plays Powerball and Mega Millions.

RALEIGH – Just as many other lottery winners, Steve Lax of Archdale says his win – a $250,000 Powerball prize − couldn’t have come at a better time.

CLIVE, Iowa — A Des Moines-area man said he called person after person after realizing he’d won a $2 million Powerball® prize, and no one believed him – not even his wife or his dad. Rob Maser of Urbandale said he quickly realized that he must have a reputation as a jokester.

Baltimore – Milton Price of Maryland has big plans for when he hits the jackpot in a Powerball or Mega Millions game: “I’m going to open up a shelter. I want a church, a place where the homeless can come to shower, rest and eat.”

Baltimore – When multistate Lottery jackpot games begin rolling to ever-higher amounts, more and more people begin to play in hopes of becoming multimillionaires. Jin Jung of Olney joined in the chase that ended March 27 with the $768.4 million Powerball jackpot going to a Wisconsin player and a $50,000 prize going to him!

A St. Louis man recently made a routine stop at a convenience store to buy some gas and check his Powerball tickets, but the errand ended up being anything but routine.

Alonzo MacDonald said he plays Powerball about once a week. Several days after the April 6 drawing, he decided to check his tickets. He scanned his ticket for the April 6 drawing on a Check-A-Ticket machine at a convenience store, which advised him to claim his prize at a lottery office.

Baltimore – Al Ciappa plays the Maryland Lottery’s jackpot games – Powerball, Mega Millions and Cash4Life – regularly, so he was paying close attention to news reports when the Powerball jackpot rolled to $750 million — and eventually $768.4 million — for the March 27 drawing.

The 58-year-old carpenter wasn’t thinking about any prize other than winning the third-largest jackpot in U.S. history and the second largest in Powerball history.

Baltimore – “Gina Jones,” a recent Maryland transplant, plans to put a new car in her parking space after winning $50,000 playing her favorite numbers in the March 23 Powerball drawing. She matched four white balls — 24, 25, 52 and 60 — and the Powerball — 5 — to capture her big win.

“I play Mega Millions and Pick 4 often, but I rarely play Powerball,” said the College Park, Md. winner. “When the money is big, I will play.”

“It’s actually very funny, I had always said when I grow up I want to be a Powerball winner,” said Timothy B., a Schuylkill County resident who is sharing a $50,000 Powerball win with two co-workers and friends, Michael P. of Luzerne County and David B. of Lehigh County. This was only the second time the friends played Powerball together.

Stan Heberlie of Farmington generally buys his Powerball tickets from the same local convenience store. Stopping in at Convenience Barn, 1000 Ste. Genevieve Ave. in Farmington, before the March 27 Powerball drawing, he continued the usual trend. What was unusual, however, was that a ticket he purchased would match four of the five white-ball numbers drawn plus the Powerball number for a prize of $50,000.

After watching the 10 o’clock news that night, Heberlie remembered to check his tickets.