How 1 Lottery Player’s Simple Error Led to 2, Million Dollar Wins originally appeared on Parade.
One man’s blunder is that same man’s treasure after one lottery player’s error landed him two winning tickets.
A Massachusetts resident ended up with two big winners purchased at two different stores, netting two separate million-dollar paydays, after believing he’d missed the drawing for his first ticket.
Paul Corcoran of Fitchburg, located northwest of Boston, originally purchased a multi-draw ticket that had its final drawing on July 9. However, come the 9th, he mistakenly thought that the drawing had already occurred, leading him to purchase a new multi-draw ticket at another store nearby with the same numbers.
Though he missed the red Powerball, falling short of the entire pot, he matched all five white balls, turning a simple error into two million dollars.
A representative for the Massachusetts State Lottery told CNN that Corcoran had been playing the same random numbers “for quite some time.” While he doesn’t have plans for his winnings just yet, he told the Massachusetts Lottery, per a release from Powerball, that his wins feel good.
The two stores that sold his tickets, a Market Basket supermarket in Fitchburg and a Country Farms convenience store in Leominster, will each receive a payout of $10,000.
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How 1 Lottery Player’s Simple Error Led to 2, Million Dollar Wins first appeared on Parade on Jul 24, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Jul 24, 2025, where it first appeared.
