CNN
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A North Carolina man turned the pain of his favorite football team’s loss into the joy of a $150,000 Powerball win.
Jacob Strickland, from Asheboro, North Carolina, was disappointed to see the Clemson Tigers lose to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on November 5, according to a news release from the North Carolina Lottery.
“We were watching football with some friends and Clemson was getting beat terribly by Notre Dame,” Strickland, 29, said in the release. “We were joking we should get lottery tickets because our luck couldn’t get any worse.”
But it was more than a joke for the welder, who bought a $3 “Quick Pick” ticket on his phone just before the lottery drawing.
“It really was a last-minute thing right before the drawing,” he said in the release.
His spontaneous decision paid off. He won $50,000, which was multiplied to $150,000 with a “3X Power Play Multiplier.”
Strickland was shocked by his win. He called his mom to share the news and then sent screenshots of his win to the friends with whom he had watched the football game.
“It was just a day of disbelief because I’ve never won anything before,” he said in the release.
The lucky winner took home a total of $106,516 after taxes, says the release. He plans to invest some of the money and put the rest in his savings.
