Cedar Rapids Man Claims $2 Million Powerball Prize on St. Patrick’s Day

Karl Krumbholz, who works in information technology at the University of Iowa Hospitals in North Liberty, scored the huge sum in the drawing on March 15th and arrived at lottery headquarters two days later to claim it. Karl bought his winning Powerball ticket at Smokin' Joes Outlet in North Liberty during his lunch hour and insists his heritage may have had something to do with his good fortune. "My dad’s mother was Irish and his father was German. I had the same combination on the other side," he told officials.

The winning Powerball numbers were 16, 30, 41, 48, 53, and Powerball 16. Karl’s ticket matched the five main numbers and, as he had opted for the Power Play option, he boosted the regular $1 million award to $2 million. He also revealed that he had played a second ticket, which won $12, bringing his total winnings to $2,000,012. 

"I’ll probably take some of it and pay my house off, so I don’t have any bills. Then, I’ll put the rest away", said Karl when asked how he would spend the winnings. Smokin’ Joe’s outlet will also receive a vendor bonus of $2,000 for selling the ticket. 

Karl is North Liberty’s second big Powerball winner in the past six months, after Jeff Tomlinson Jr. of Coralville won a $1 million Powerball prize, having purchased his ticket from a convenience store in North Liberty in October 2016. 

In addition, one gigantic Iowa Powerball prize currently remains unclaimed. A ticket worth $2 million was purchased in a Cedar Rapids convenience store for the drawing on July 16th. Winners in the state have 365 days from the date of the drawing to step forward and claim their prize and lottery officials have been reminding players to double-check their tickets so that they don’t miss out on a huge sum of cash. 

Players can check the latest results on the Numbers page and tickets for the next drawing are available online or via authorised retailers.