A Powerball winner has 180 days to pick up their prize, but a Highland, Ind. man didn't bother to waste a single day after winning $1 million in Wednesday's Powerball.
Larry Chandler, 34, was one of the first people through the door at the Indianapolis lottery headquarters Thursday morning after discovering he was one of the big winners in the $587.5 million drawing.
He works as a union electrician with BP -- a job he's going back to on Monday -- but he didn't notice he won until he got to work Thursday morning.
"I looked at the paper, looked at the number, looked at the paper, looked at the number ... about 300 times it seemed like. Ya, it was for real," Chandler said.
Chandler says he plans to consult with his father, a financial planner. He's been living with his girlfriend because his own home was in foreclosure. His immediate plans for the money include helping out his mom, starting a college fund for his daughter and taking his girlfriend to Red Lobster -- which should translate into plenty of cheddar biscuits.
The winning ticket was purchased at the Highland Citgo on Kennedy Avenue, a few blocks from his house. He says he played his own numbers and bought around $20 worth of tickets. His total take? Roughly $713,000.
"I've never won anything in my life and I've played lots of different things. I just never won anything, so finally I won something and it's pretty cool," Chandler said.
Two other million-dollar Powerball tickets were purchased in Central Illinois and another in Vincennes, Ind.
Two tickets, purchased in Arizona and Missouri, matched all six numbers and the winners will split the more than half a billion-dollar jackpot.
