Woman thought she won $50,000 Powerball prize in Michigan. But she won much more

A Michigan woman could not believe how much she won when she went to cash in her winning Powerball ticket.

Her prize was double what she had in mind, according to a June 15 news release from the Michigan Lottery.

“I like to play Powerball and Mega Millions when the jackpot gets over $100 million,” Cheryl Marx told lottery officials when claiming her prize. “The morning after the (June 5) drawing, I called the winning numbers hotline and wrote down the winning Powerball numbers. When I looked my ticket over, I thought I’d won $50,000 and I was thrilled!”

But when she took her ticket to a Michigan Lottery office, she was told she actually won $100,000, according to the release. That’s because she added the Power Play option to her ticket, which doubled her prize.

“When they told me it was actually a $100,000 winner, I was a wreck,” the Saginaw woman said. “I was so excited about winning that I forgot I added the Power Play to my ticket. I am still in disbelief that I won $100,000!”

She plans to use her prize money to improve her home and help family, officials said.

Marx bought her winning ticket at Tobacco & Liquor 1 in Saginaw, about 100 miles northwest of Detroit.