Deputy fire marshal has HOT ticket
By Travis Coleman Journal Staff Writer | Posted: Thursday, August 30, 2007
Gerald Linsley couldn't believe he had won $200,000 in the Powerball lottery, even after reading it Wednesday morning.
Linsley, a 58-year-old deputy fire marshal with the Sioux City Fire Department, had a co-worker confirm the winning sequence -- 2-8-23-29-35. The next thing he recalled hearing was, "You need to cash that thing in," he said in an interview with the Journal Wednesday.
And Linsley did, spending the rest of the day driving to Storm Lake, Iowa, to pick up his winnings, a check for $140,000, after taxes. Linsley missed the Powerball, though, and a share of Saturday's $314 million prize, the fourth largest in history.
Linsley has been with the prevention bureau for six years and the fire department for 30 years.
After word of his big win spread, Linsley said his co-workers were soon pushing him out the door into early retirement. Linsley said he only checks his lottery tickets every six months "because I never win," he said. But after reading in the Sioux City Journal about the unclaimed prize being won in Sioux City, Linsley went to retrieve the ticket from his car.
"I looked at the first two numbers to see what they were," Linsley said in a press release from the Iowa Lottery. "I figured if I didn't have the first two numbers, why bring it in. So, 2 and 8, yeah, I got those. Then I was looking at the rest and I thought, 'Oh, my gosh.'"
Linsley quickly shared the news with his wife, Barb, who had wondered why her husband had always been purchasing lottery tickets.
"(She) keeps on me that I'm throwing money away," Linsley said.
But the $1 ticket Linsley bought at 75 Pronto Express, 1800 N. U.S. Highway 75 will help pay off their house. Linsley said he hasn't decided on any other plans for the money.
Linsley was the only Iowan to win $200,000 in Saturday's drawing, but seven other tickets won prizes of $10,000 by matching four of the white numbers plus the Powerball, the Iowa Lottery reported. Another ticket won a $30,000 prize by matching those same numbers but adding the Power Play.
Linsley didn't add the Power Play option, which would have tripled his prize to $600,000.
"When I bought this, I thought, 'You know, maybe I should have got the Power Play but what the heck, I'm not going to win anyway," Linsley said. "Boy was I wrong!"
Linsley, a 58-year-old deputy fire marshal with the Sioux City Fire Department, had a co-worker confirm the winning sequence -- 2-8-23-29-35. The next thing he recalled hearing was, "You need to cash that thing in," he said in an interview with the Journal Wednesday.
And Linsley did, spending the rest of the day driving to Storm Lake, Iowa, to pick up his winnings, a check for $140,000, after taxes. Linsley missed the Powerball, though, and a share of Saturday's $314 million prize, the fourth largest in history.
Linsley has been with the prevention bureau for six years and the fire department for 30 years.
After word of his big win spread, Linsley said his co-workers were soon pushing him out the door into early retirement. Linsley said he only checks his lottery tickets every six months "because I never win," he said. But after reading in the Sioux City Journal about the unclaimed prize being won in Sioux City, Linsley went to retrieve the ticket from his car.
"I looked at the first two numbers to see what they were," Linsley said in a press release from the Iowa Lottery. "I figured if I didn't have the first two numbers, why bring it in. So, 2 and 8, yeah, I got those. Then I was looking at the rest and I thought, 'Oh, my gosh.'"
Linsley quickly shared the news with his wife, Barb, who had wondered why her husband had always been purchasing lottery tickets.
"(She) keeps on me that I'm throwing money away," Linsley said.
But the $1 ticket Linsley bought at 75 Pronto Express, 1800 N. U.S. Highway 75 will help pay off their house. Linsley said he hasn't decided on any other plans for the money.
Linsley was the only Iowan to win $200,000 in Saturday's drawing, but seven other tickets won prizes of $10,000 by matching four of the white numbers plus the Powerball, the Iowa Lottery reported. Another ticket won a $30,000 prize by matching those same numbers but adding the Power Play.
Linsley didn't add the Power Play option, which would have tripled his prize to $600,000.
"When I bought this, I thought, 'You know, maybe I should have got the Power Play but what the heck, I'm not going to win anyway," Linsley said. "Boy was I wrong!"
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Someone wrote on Aug 30, 2007 10:09 PM:
DLR wrote on Aug 30, 2007 4:03 PM:
Stu wrote on Aug 30, 2007 6:25 AM: