LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — An Arkansas woman received some good news and bad news from her stepfather.
The bad news -- she is now responsible for her telephone bill. The good news? Her stepfather handed her a winning Powerball ticket from the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery worth $200,000.
Now Cally Krisell can pay the bill -- and even afford a new cellphone.
According to the lottery’s news release on Monday, the Greenbriar resident’s stepfather matched four white balls and the red Powerball in the July 17 drawing, qualifying him for a $50,000 prize. Because he played the Power Play option for an extra $1, the prize quadrupled thanks to the 4X multiplier.
“My stepdad plays the numbers of me and my daughter’s birthdates,” Krisell told lottery officials. “We always had a running joke that if he won big, he would give me the winning ticket.”
The numbers drawn on July 17 were 5, 8, 9, 17, and 41, with Powerball 21.
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After Krisell’s stepfather realized that the ticket he bought at the Flash Market in Clinton was a big winner, he made a surprise visit to her home to deliver the “good news, bad news” edict, saying he “had something important to tell her.”
“He stated he had good and bad news,” Krisell said in a statement. “He gave me the bad news first -- I must start paying my own phone bill. The good news -- I have money to pay it with, and then he gave me the lottery ticket!”
Krisell said she first told her husband about the win. She plans to put her lottery prize toward home improvements and a family vacation, lottery officials said.