Southern Oregon Lottery Winners, Jan. 13

News release from Oregon Lottery. Steven Lambert had never purchased a Powerball ticket, but when he saw the jackpot climb to more than $800 million, he opted to try his luck. “The big jackpot got me,” Lambert said. “I had never purchased a ticket before, I even had to have the clerk at the store help me fill out the play slip. I’m really glad I figured it all out!” Lambert was one of three people in Southern Oregon who won large prizes, even though they didn’t win the top prize. Lambert, from Ashland, claimed his $50,000 Monday morning, and said that his son was accepted to University of Oregon, so the money was going to help pay his college expenses. “I work in the parks and I see what the Oregon Lottery does to help fund state parks,” Lambert said. Meanwhile, Brandon Bennett of Central Point added a $1 PowerPlay option to his Powerball ticket, so when the 3x multiplier was drawn, instead of $50,000, he took home $150,000. Last week, Fred Estabrook of Central Point won $50,000 and shared his big prize with his co-workers. Lottery officials are still waiting for a player to claim a $50,000 prize for a ticket that was purchased in Canyonville. Additionally, there are unclaimed $50,000 prizes across Oregon. These tickets were purchased in Gresham, Grants Pass, and Eugene. Across the country, while there was no Powerball grand prize winner on the record-setting Saturday, Jan. 9 drawing, it created 28 new millionaires. Three tickets won $2 million and 25 tickets won $1 million. A total of 18,315,365 prizes were won with a value of $159,080,965. Oregon is seeing its share of winners, as well. For example, last Saturday’s drawing had more than 176,000 winning tickets ranging from $4 to $150,000. The overall odds of winning a Powerball prize are one in 24.9. Odds of winning the jackpot are one in 292,201,338. The next drawing is Wednesday at 7:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. Players have until 7 p.m. to purchase tickets on drawing days. As always, winners have one year from the date of the drawing on their winning ticket to collect their prize. Proceeds from Oregon Lottery sales help fund public education, parks, economic development and watershed projects.