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Powerball Winner Claims $133.2 Million Jackpot on 30-Year-Old Numbers

Powerball Winner Claims $133.2 Million Jackpot on 30-Year-Old Numbers

A resident of Clifton in Colorado has claimed last week’s $133.2 million Powerball jackpot, having played the same numbers for 30 years, one of which even represented her ex-husband’s birthday! Judy Finchum, 67, purchased an advanced play ticket for the drawing on Saturday September 16th at the Lucky Me convenience store on Patterson Road in the town of Grand Junction.


She admitted she was stunned to find out on the Sunday morning after the drawing that she had matched all five main numbers and the Powerball. Judy immediately ran to tell her husband and later recalled the moment to the press, saying "We stumbled down the hallway together and I said, 'Now look at these numbers and look at the numbers on the ticket and are those the same?'” Judy’s husband confirmed that the ticket was a winner.

The Powerball numbers for the Saturday September 16th drawing were 17, 18, 24, 25, 31, and Powerball 24. You can find out more information on the total payouts and winners at the Powerball Numbers page.

Judy explained how she had chosen the numbers that she had regularly played for an extraordinary 30 years and mentioned that they comprised family birthdays: 31 for her daughter, 24 for her sister, 25 for her ex-husband, 18, her own birth date, and 17 for her late brother.

When asked what she would spend the winnings on, Judy admitted that they had already been planning to buy a new house, but that it “might be a bit bigger now!”. A proportion of the winnings will also go towards helping victims of the recent hurricanes in Texas and Florida, as well as family and friends. Additionally, Judy announced that she’s officially retired from her job in real estate and from selling Xerox machines, since finding out about her big win.

Judy chose the cash lump sum of $84.6 million, rather than the full amount in annual payments. You can learn more about the different options for claiming a Powerball jackpot on the Cash vs Annuity page.



Page Last Updated: 9/22/2017 7:06:05 AM ET

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