St. Albans Man Wins $200,000 Powerball Prize; Players Nationally Win Big

William Tabor has two regrets. “Man, I was so excited that I’d hit five of the Powerball numbers, I couldn’t even look to see if I’d hit the jackpot . . . I had to call a friend to give me a ride home, I was so nervous.

Then, when I found out I’d missed the Powerball number, I was a bit disappointed, and then I came to learn that if I’d spent a dollar extra for the Power Play option, I’d have won $1 million.”

But at the end of the day, the West Virginia Lottery’s latest $200,000 cash Powerball winner said that he was just delighted. Thrilled, actually. “I didn’t know how much matching five of the numbers paid. I thought it might be a hundred or two, that it was $200,000 was like hitting the jackpot for me.”

A St. Albans resident, Tabor, 62, is a retired chemical engineer, who has two grown children and three grandchildren. Purchased at Go Mart in St. Albans for the drawing held Dec. 1, he considered the lucky ticket “a blessing.”

“My wife and I will be able to pay off our home mortgage, as well as some rental properties we own. A daughter died back in the summer, so this brings us a lift. We’re grateful.”

Lottery Director John Musgrave said Tabor is among a large group of lucky Powerball players from the Wednesday drawing. “It was a fairly dramatic way for them to kick off December. There were 35 prizes of at least $200,000 nationally, including nine who chose the Power Play option, which paid $1 million to each of them, and a jackpot winner in Arizona, who won more than $95 million.”

Past president of the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries, Musgrave said the Powerball members of NASPL created Power Play to get more $1 million winners in the game.

Players who match the first five numbers in a Powerball drawing with the additional Power Play option win $1 million, no matter what the Power Play multiplier is for that drawing. He said West Virginia has paid two of those $1 million Power Play prizes.

“There are a lot of folks out there happy for the holidays. Players have the chance to become millionaires, even if they don’t hit the jackpot, while raising money from ticket purchases for programs statewide, including education, senior citizens and tourism.”