West Virginia Man Surprises Wife With $1 Million Powerball Win
West Virginia’s latest Powerball millionaire has revealed that he asked lottery officials to delay announcing his win so he could take his wife out for her birthday and surprise her with the news. Stanis Tabler, from Charles Town, only missed out on the jackpot because his Powerball number was 23 and the number drawn was 22, but he still could not believe his good fortune.
Tabler won $1 million after matching all five main numbers in the drawing on Wednesday January 9th. He quickly came forward to receive his $1 million prize from the state lottery’s headquarters in Charleston. The West Virginia Lottery then agreed to wait to release his details until after his wife’s big day.
“I took her out to breakfast for her birthday on Saturday and had balloons for her,” Tabler explained. “I gave her a framed photograph of me holding the giant check and told her ‘Happy Birthday, this is what every woman wants. A picture of me’. She was shocked and couldn’t believe it when I told her. She said it was the best birthday ever.”
‘Played on a whim’
Tabler purchased his winning ticket from the South End BP on Winchester Avenue in Martinsburg, which will now receive a one percent bonus of $10,000. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision to take part, as he does not regularly indulge in Powerball.
“I play the lottery weekly, but I play Lotto America regularly and do not play Powerball that often,” Tabler said. “I cashed in my Lotto America tickets and won $20. So, on a whim, I just told the cashier to give me $20 in Powerball tickets and that is how I won.”
Tabler discovered how much he had won the next day when he stopped at a store on his way to Beckley and checked his tickets. “I couldn’t believe it and drove straight to Charleston. I also only missed the Powerball number by one. The Powerball number that night was 22 and my ticket had 23.”
If Tabler had matched the Powerball he would have become the Mountain State’s ninth jackpot winner, emulating others such as Jack Whittaker, who has regularly hit the headlines since his big win on Christmas Day 2002. Read more about Whittaker’s story and Powerball in West Virginia.
The jackpot has now been rolling over since a player from New York won on December 26th, and is now back up to $112 million. Check out the Powerball Numbers page after Wednesday’s drawing to find out if has been won for the first time this year.
Page Last Updated: 1/17/2019 8:45:57 AM ET