LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Kentucky man turned $3 into $2 million.
In a news release Thursday, the Kentucky Lottery said Rickie and Karen Melton, of Symsonia, Kentucky, won big in this week's run-up to the record Powerball.
Someone in California won the top prize of $2.04 billion in Tuesday's delayed drawing. But Rickie Melton bought a Powerball ticket Saturday in Marshall County that matched all five white balls. Usually, that ticket would be worth $1 million, but Melton added the Power Play option to his ticket, which doubled his prize.
Melton said he was sitting in his truck getting ready to leave for breakfast Sunday morning when he decided to check his tickets.
"I pulled up the winning numbers on my phone and started looking at my tickets," Rickie told lottery officials. "It was the last ticket I checked. I got really nervous about matching the fourth number. On the fifth number, I was so nervous I couldn’t leave the driveway and had to go back into the house."
Melton said he was so excited after realizing he won, but his wife, Karen, was sleeping after a late shift working as a nurse.
"I kept pacing the floor until I just had to go wake her up," he said.
Melton said she wasn't very happy at first, but it didn’t take her long to wake up after she heard the news.
Melton said he bought the $3 winning ticket as a quick pick from the vending machine at the Walmart on West 5th Street in Benton.
Rickie and Karen Melton cashed their ticket Wednesday at Kentucky Lottery headquarters in Louisville. After taxes, they walked with a check for $1,420,000. After an appointment with a financial planner, they plan to buy a new car and take an Alaskan cruise.
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