LOTTERY officials say a 19-year-old central Florida man and first-time lottery player used the numbers off someone else’s unpurchased Powerball ticket to win US$2 million.

    Frederick Walker said there was already a completed play slip at the Sav-A-Ton in Lake Mary where he purchased his ticket and decided to try his hand using those numbers.

    “When I heard about the billion-dollar Powerball jackpot, I decided to try my luck and buy a ticket,” Walker told the lottery.

    He matched five numbers in Wednesday’s drawing to win US$1 million, but added an extra feature that doubled his prize to US$2 million.

    “How lucky that the first time I played, I won,” he said.

    This recent series of Powerball rollovers has generated historically high jackpots, causing a bit of lottery fever across the country.

    A small-town Tennessee couple bought one of three magic tickets splitting the world-record US$1.6 billion Powerball jackpot. John and Lisa Robinson said they don’t plan to quit their jobs or buy a new house.

    Lottery officials said no one has produced the other winning tickets sold in Florida and California.

    Wednesday night’s drawing also produced 11 US$1 million winners in Florida. Lottery officials said Florida has produced more Powerball winners than any other state since joining the game in 2009.

    (SD-Agencies)