Bartender Wins Big on Powerball With Ticket Left as a Tip

She said it was one of the regulars at the Bleachers Bar in O’Fallon where she works, and that he often gives her a lottery ticket on top of his normal tip. As the bar sells lottery tickets, he also hands them out to other customers, too, especially when the jackpot starts getting bigger.

For this particular drawing, the jackpot stood at $110 million and Russey did not give her own ticket much thought, even when the bar’s lottery terminal alerted staff that their machine had created a $50,000 winner. “I was like, ‘Guys, who won all this money and didn’t tell anybody?’” Russey said in a press release issued by the Missouri Lottery.

She then realized that she had a ticket that she had not yet checked. Upon scanning it through the terminal, she was amazed to discover that she had won the five-figure prize for matching four of the five main numbers plus the Powerball.

Describing her reaction, she said: “I kind of stood there for a second, looked at the cook and then looked at the ticket before I started laughing and then I started crying.”

The first person she called when she got the news was the customer who had tipped her. “He was very happy for me,” said Russey, adding that he did not want his name to be made public.

Asked about her plans for the future, Russey revealed that she would take care of some dental work that was wasn’t covered by her insurance and take some time to think about how to enjoy the rest. But she definitely won’t be quitting her job just yet. “This isn’t enough to sustain me for the rest of my life,” said the 33-year-old. “I still have to work.”

Powerball Jackpot Up To $150 Million

The Powerball jackpot has been growing since it was last won on September 21st by a player from Michigan. Phillip Chippewa - a father of seven and grandfather of 21 from Suttons Bay  - later came forward to claim the $80 million prize. He had previously thought of himself as someone who “might not have the most money, but was rich with family”, and was delighted that he would now be able to help his loved ones for generations.

Chippewa’s win came hot on the heels of New Yorker David Yax landing an $80 million jackpot of his own on September 4th. The top prize is now up to $150 million, making it the largest jackpot seen on the game since July.

With $150 million up for grabs for the next drawing on Saturday, it is the last time in this jackpot run that the 10x Power Play multiplier could be drawn. Once it goes higher, the 10x multiplier will no longer be available. This multiplier has already been drawn twice since the start of August, boosting non-jackpot prizes by 10 times their original value for those players who had added Power Play.

Find out more about Power Play and how it works ahead of the weekend, then check out the winning numbers straight after the drawing takes place to see how you get on.