02/04/08 Portland, Oregon: Toilose Mapapalangi of Portland calls herself a faithful Powerball player. To add to her excitement, and give her luck as many chances to work as she can, Toilose buys her Powerball tickets at different locations. Well, the ticket bought at 7-Eleven, on N Lombard St., in Portland, turned out to be the luckiest one so far. Toilose matched four of five numbers, plus the power ball, to become a $10,000 winner. Her winning ticket was one of two winning $10,000 tickets, and overall, one of 9,730 winning tickets for Oregon Lottery Powerball players from the drawing.
Toilose, a native of Tonga, has eight children. She was excited to win, but seemed even more excited because her granddaughter’s 1st birthday was the next day. The timing is just great, said Toilose.
Toilose didn’t know which Lottery retailer she’d purchased her winning ticket from until her ticket was verified, and the Lottery’s customer service representative checked for her. Toilose hopes to be back one day to win the Powerball jackpot.
10/7/2007 You had to excuse Alice Wood of Gearhart if she was all shook up as she claimed her $400,000 Powerball Power Play prize at the Lottery office in Salem. Alice had just returned from a trip to Graceland, in Memphis, when she discovered she was a big winner.
Alice purchased a single combination of Quick Pick numbers for three consecutive drawings. In the third drawing, she matched five numbers, without the power ball, for a $200,000 prize. Alice had selected the Power Play option when she purchased her ticket at Albertson’s, in Beaverton. The Power Play number 2 was drawn, doubling her prize to $400,000. I had the ticket checked, and the clerk said, ‘I think you’ve won $200,000.’ The prize amount was quickly verified as $400,000, when it was confirmed as a Power Play ticket. Alice will usually play Powerball when the jackpot gets near the $100 million mark. She always uses the Quick Pick method to select her numbers, and will usually play Power Play.
Alice says a portion of her prize money will go toward remodeling projects around the house, and an artist studio for her husband.
Better Late, Than Almost Never
Tom Ottman of Battleground, Washington, was very happy that he got around to checking the Powerball tickets sitting at home on his desk. First, because one was a $200,000 winner, and second, it was from January 17, almost eight months from the drawing.
Tom wasn’t sure how long he had to claim his prize. Oregon Powerball players have one year from the date of the drawing to claim their prize. I was worried that it might have been a six-month time frame. I couldn’t believe it when I checked the ticket, said Tom. I thought I was looking at the wrong date or something. He headed to the 7/Eleven on NE Weider St., where he had purchased the ticket. The clerk checked and confirmed that the ticket was a winner. Ryan checked the numbers again, and confirmed that he was a $200,000 winner. Tom called his wife, Pam, on the walk home from the store. She said she was on the other line, and I told her you need to hang up and talk to me. Tom gave her the good news, and the excitement started.
When I heard the news, the wheels started turning, said Pam. What should we do with the money? Beginning a college savings account for their soon-to-be seven year old twins was at the top of the list. It’s like you’ve been given a gift, and with it comes responsibility, Pam said.
Tom and Pam’s winning ticket is among the 282 Match 5 Powerball tickets sold in Oregon since Powerball began in April 1992. Overall, Oregon Lottery players have won more than $784 million in prizes playing Powerball, and its predecessor, Lotto America.
April 1992 ... Direct mail to players. April 19, 1992 ... Oregon Powerball sales started. May 2, 1992 ... Oregon's first $100,000 winner. October 14, 1992 ... First Oregon jackpot winner. Record $38.4 million jackpot. Eugene, Oregon family won $38.4 million. Oregon Powerball draw sales of $781,887 for the October 14, 1992 draw. October 18, 1992 ... On-line hours extended to 1:00 a.m. March 3, 1993 ... Record Oregon Powerball jackpot, $59.2 million. Record draw sales for Oregon were $2,270,467. March 14, 1993 ... Advanced Play feature added. Players can play the same numbers for one to four consecutive draws. June 19, 1993 ... Repeat key feature added. Will generate up to 10 ticket transactions for Megabucks, Oregon Powerball, Daily 4, and Sports Action. July 7, 1993 ... Oregon Powerball $111 million jackpot surpassed previous $59.2 million jackpot record (3/3/93). Oregon Powerball draw sales were $3,529,432 for the July 7, 1993 draw. December 22, 1993 ... Oregon Powerball jackpot $89.5 million, the third highest in Powerball history -- Oregon Powerball draw sales were $1,817,577 for the December 22, 1993 draw. September 1994 ... Oregon Powerball Doubler Promotion (9/10/94-10/5/94)First Powerball promotion held in conjunction with all MUSL jurisdictions. November 30, 1994 ... Oregon Powerball jackpot $100 million, the second highest in Powerball history -- Oregon Powerball draw sales were $2,020,892 for the November 30, 1994 draw. Jan. - Feb. 1995 ... "Stuck on Powerball" how-to-play promotion around the state. February 1995 ... 10 Oregon Oregon Powerball billboards with automated jackpot displays were placed around the state. June 1995 ... Oregon Powerball "Live like a Millionaire" sweepstakes second-chance drawing (6/21/95-7/15/95). September 1995 ... Oregon Powerball Doubler Promotion (9/3/95-9/30/95). Second Oregon Powerball promotion held in conjunction with all MUSL jurisdictions. March 24, 1996 ... "Send Us Your Dreams" contest (3/24-4/20/96). November 2, 1997 ... Oregon Powerball Enhancements Introduced: Guaranteed $10 million minimum jackpot Matrix changed from 5/45 + 1/45 to 5/49 + 1/42 Changed annuity from 20 years to 25 years Added a "cash option" December 31, 1997 ... Last televised drawing on KOIN TV in Portland. Portland viewers can now view the drawing on CNN between 8:45 - 9:00 on Wednesday and Saturday. January 1, 1998 ... The Lottery is required to withhold 8% State tax, along with the 28% Federal tax on ALL prizes over $5,000. May 20, 1998 ... Oregon Powerball $195 million jackpot surpassed the previous $111 million jackpot record (7/7/93). Oregon Powerball weekly draw sales (two draws) peaked at $5.233 million on May 23, 1998. July 29, 1998 ... Oregon Powerball $295 million jackpot surpassed the previous $195 million jackpot record (5/20/98). Oregon Powerball weekly draw sales (two draws) peaked at $6.044 million on August 1, 1998. July 24, 1999 ... $33.8 million jackpot won by an Oregonian. Second Oregon Powerball jackpot won by someone in Oregon.
November 20, 1985 ... First day for Megabucks sales. December 7, 1985 ... Megabucks daily sales surpass $100,000 for first time. March 8, 1986 ... Megabucks weekly sales surpass $500,000 for first time. June 1, 1986 ... Megabucks matrix changed from 6/38 to 6/42. September 22, 1986 ... Relaunch of Megabucks game with guaranteed $1 million jackpot. December 27, 1986 ... Megabucks weekly sales surpass $1 million for first time. January 10, 1987 ... Megabucks weekly sales surpass $2 million for first time. June 3, 1987 ... Megabucks goes to two draws per week. January 16, 1988 ... Megabucks weekly sales surpass $5 million for first time. March 30, 1988 ... Megabucks $14 million jackpot established. April 30, 1989 ... Megabucks matrix changed from 6/42 to 6/44. July 11, 1990 ... $2.5 million unclaimed jackpot (expired July 11, 1991). August 5, 1990 ... Megabucks enhancements introduced: * Choice of Jackpot Payment Plans * New add-on feature Megabucks Plus Power Play June 1, 1991 ... Began installation of new FLEX terminals. July 31, 1991 ... $23 million jackpot surpassed previous $14 million jackpot record (3/30/88). August 31, 1991 ... Changed "Investor's Choice" to "Investment Fund." September 21, 1991 ... $625,000 unclaimed jackpot (expired September 21,1992). November 1991 ... Buy $2 in Megabucks and get a free Keno play promotion. April 1992 ... Installed new FLEX/POST terminals. October 18, 1992 ... On-line hours extended to 1:00 a.m. March 14, 1993 ... Advanced Play feature added. Players can play the same numbers for one to four consecutive draws. June 19, 1993 ... Repeat key feature added. Generates up to 10 ticket transactions for Megabucks, Powerball, Daily 4, and Sports Action. November 20, 1994 ... Megabucks "Cruise the Northwest" Second-chance Drawing (11/20/94 - 12/24/94); generated over 130,000 entries (a record number). April 16, 1995 ... Megabucks with "Power Play" changed to Megabucks with "Kicker". April 1995 ... Megabucks "Kick Back on a Mexican Cruise" automated drawing on 3/6 Kicker prize. 18 cruises to Mexico were available to be given away (4/16/95 - 5/6/95). Nov.-June 1996 ... "Mega Man" promotion where players can register to have Mega Man come to their door. If players have a Megabucks ticket for the next draw, when Mega Man comes to their door, they will win $1,000 cash. January 24, 1996 ... "Megabucks Second-chance" drawing where players could win up to $15,000 (1/24/96-2/17/96). Nov. 13, 1996 ... "Megabucks Dough Second-chance Drawing" where players could win up to $1,000 in monthy drawings. In addition, when a player wins, the Oregon Lottery will go to their community to help with a community service project (11/13/96-6/14/97). December 31, 1997 ... Last televised Megabucks drawing. Factors leading to the decision included research indicating that only a very small percentage of Megabucks players watch the telecast, plus rising production and broadcast costs. January 3, 1998 ... Megabucks drawing will take place at Lottery's main office in Salem. April 1, 1998 ... To celebrate the Lottery's 13th Anniversary, for every Megabucks jackpot during the month of April the Lottery will add an exciting prize to the jackpot (4/1 - 4/29/98). February 10, 1999 ... $18 million Megabucks jackpot won, second highest. February 15, 2000 ... "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" promotion with KATU Channel 2 News where players win Megabucks free plays by calling a contest phone number with the correct answer to trivia questions asked on the 5-6 pm news and/or the 11-11:30 news. (2/15/00-2/25/00) May, 20, 2001 ... Megabucks changed from ball machine drawing to a random number generator, game matrix changed from 6/44 numbers to 6/48 numbers. A third draw was added, Monday. Matching 3/6 numbers the player wins a $1 free quick pick ticket. Original Plan option changed from receiving jackpot prize in 20 years to 25 years.