Sometimes, the stars align in the most unexpected ways.
Corcoran had been playing the exact random numbers for years when, on July 9, he made what he believed was a routine trip to purchase a Powerball ticket. He had already bought a multi-draw ticket covering seven games but mistakenly thought the final drawing on it had passed. Not wanting to miss out on that night’s $217 million jackpot, he stopped at a second store just 10 minutes down the road to grab another ticket.
What didn’t he realize? He had just bought the exact numbers twice for the same drawing.
That accidental double dip turned into a double payday. Both tickets matched all five white balls — 5, 9, 25, 28, and 69 — just missing the red Powerball number 5. While he didn’t hit the jackpot, he did win $1 million per ticket — for a total of $2 million before taxes.
“I’ve been playing these same numbers for quite some time,”
Corcoran told lottery officials, still in disbelief over the twist of fate.
The lucky tickets were purchased at two separate locations: a Market Basket supermarket on Water Street in Fitchburg and a Country Farms convenience store in Leominster. As a bonus, each retailer will receive $10,000 for selling a winning ticket — the first $1 million Powerball prizes ever sold in both cities.
Corcoran wasted no time claiming his winnings, arriving at the Massachusetts State Lottery headquarters in Dorchester on July 11 — just two days after the draw. Dressed in a money green shirt, gray newsboy cap, and dark sunglasses, he posed for photos with his oversized check in hand.
When asked what he planned to do with his sudden windfall, Corcoran kept things simple:
“It feels good,” he said. “I don’t have any plans yet.”
His back-to-back win was part of a larger winning night. The July 9 Powerball drawing produced eight $1 million “Match 5” winners nationwide, including two in California, two in Illinois, and one in Florida, Nebraska, and Texas — the last of which used the Power Play option to double their prize to $2 million.
With odds of winning the Powerball jackpot standing at a staggering 1 in 292.2 million, Corcoran’s accidental double win is the kind of story lottery players dream about.
And while he didn’t hit the grand prize, his “lucky mistake” might go down in Massachusetts lottery history.
