It is incredible how jackpots can wait for their winner for a whole year because they don’t come forward. If you have been reading our notes, you must have noted instances where in lottery officials have to launch a whole advertising campaign with the only purpose of making a winner come forward. You might have read about people finding a winning ticket in the trash or on the top of their refrigerators. As crazy as it sounds, yes it does really happen. And who is to blame? After all tickets are but a piece of very fine paper, something you can stash anywhere. US lottery

After reading this, if you are an avid lottery player you will become more careful with all your tickets. An Albuquerque woman was cleaning the house when she found a misplaced Powerball ticket while on Wednesday 7th December and then she went ahead to claim a $200,000 prize from the New Mexico Lottery. Lottery results

On her quick-pick ticket for the game’s November 19th drawing, Frances Dominguez matched the winning white ball numbers of 9, 16, 17, 28 and 30. She missed landing the night’s $60 million jackpot by not matching the winning red Powerball of 11. Yes, there is huge difference between Powerball’s first prize and the second; the difference is life-changing.

Dominguez has a very practical habit when she does the laundry. There is a special drawer where she empties all the pockets before putting the clothes in the laundry. It was while doing this that she came to discover the winning ticket. Just imagine it could have gone into the laundry! She had no idea of how much it was worth until she took it to lottery headquarters in Albuquerque where she was informed that she had won $200,000.

“I started crying like crazy,” she said. “My legs felt like they didn’t want to hold me up.”

Dominguez doesn’t plan on splurge in luxury. Instead she is using her money for a great purpose. She said that before she spends any of the cash prize on herself, she will make a 10 percent donation to her church. Then she plans to pay off her home loan and splurge on a big Christmas for her children and grandchildren.

Dominguez’ lucky Powerball ticket came from Pump-N-Save No. 35 located at 4321 Coors Blvd. SW in Albuquerque. Previously, the store has sold 15 large prize-winning lottery tickets ranging between $1,000 and $25,000.

This note reminds us of one thing, if you buy lottery make sure not to dispose of any that you haven’t checked. Winning the lottery defies the odds and sometimes people really believe that although they buy it, they will not be the ones to win it. Think twice, because of the many stories that have been going around about tickets found in the most unbelievable places, there is always a chance to win, that is if you don’t put the tickets into the washing-machine!