Man wins $2M after buying two winning tickets in one day

Paul Corcoran of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, accidentally bought two winning Powerball tickets for the same drawing, scoring a US$2 million payday, CNN reported.

Corcoran initially purchased a multi-draw ticket covering seven Powerball games but mistakenly thought the ticket had expired before the July 9 drawing. Just minutes later, at a second store, he bought another multi-draw ticket, also valid for that same July 9 draw, Boston.com reported.

That lucky error paid off: both tickets matched all five white balls drawn: 5, 9, 25, 28 and 69, winning him $1 million per ticket, before taxes, according to the Massachusetts State Lottery. He missed the $217 million jackpot by a single number: the red Powerball 5.

Corcoran said he's been playing those same numbers for years.

The two winning tickets were sold at a Market Basket in Fitchburg and a Country Farms store in Leominster. Each retailer will receive a $10,000 bonus.

Lottery officials said these are the first-ever $1 million Powerball tickets sold in both Fitchburg and Leominster.

As for his winnings, Corcoran said he has no immediate plans.

The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.