$50,000 Powerball Prize Still Unclaimed by Louisiana Winner

Alright, which one of you is in such great financial shape that you can afford to play the Powerball lottery game, win $50,000 and then not bother to claim your prize? You're saying, "there's no way anyone I know would do that", right? Well somebody someone knows somewhere in this state is doing just that. There is a $50,000 Powerball lottery prize that will disappear as of next Monday if it's not claimed.

The winning ticket is featured on the Louisiana Lottery's Unclaimed Prizes page and it clearly shows that a ticket purchase for the January 13th drawing from earlier this year was a winner. That ticket matched four of the five white-ball numbers and the Powerball and by rule is valued at $50,000. Here's how that drawing unfolded.

Believe it or not, unclaimed lottery prizes are not that uncommon. The reason? People purchase the tickets to play the game, usually on a whim, and then forget they even bought a ticket. Or, maybe they put the ticket in a coat pocket and forgot about it being there.

If  I had to hypothesize, that's what I think happened. The ticket was purchased in January back when it was still kind of cold. We were still in the throws of the pandemic too. So, I am betting the ticket purchaser just flat forgot they bought a ticket.

Now, if the winner doesn't come forward and claim the cash the money will be transferred to the Lottery's unclaimed prize fund. That money is eventually redistributed to lottery players via increased payouts on scratch-off tickets or second-chance drawings for other prizes. No, the state won't pocket the $50,000 to pay for Governor Edwards's new hair weave. He'll have to use his own money for that.

By the way, the $50,000 winner was purchased in Houma at Cannata's Family Market on Prospect Boulevard. So, if you know someone from down Houma way, why don't you send them this article on Facebook so they know to check their pockets.

Oh, there's also a $500,000 Lotto ticket sold in LaPlace that will expire in five weeks and a $10,000 Mega Millions ticket that will expire in October on the Lottery's Unclaimed Prizes page. If any of those are your tickets, I hope we help spark your memory to go claim your cash.

Your winnings probably won't improve your ranking on this list but, hey, it would be a start, right?