Fortune was on her side — twice.
A Virginia woman won $50,000 on a lottery ticket earlier this month by playing the numbers she found inside a fortune cookie, but a close call nearly took away her good luck.
Tierra Barley bought her winning ticket at the Varina Superstore Supermarket in Henrico — about 10 miles northwest of Richmond.
The winning numbers were 7-41-43-44-51, and the Powerball number was 5. Barley matched four of the five — plus the Powerball — based on the lucky numbers from her Chinese takeout in the May 8 drawing, the Virginia Lottery reported Thursday.
However, Barley nearly lost her ticket before the drawing.
After purchasing the ticket, she left it at the store while she took her daughter to the park. Luckily, the winning ticket was returned to her when she went back to the store.
The odds of matching all six numbers to win the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, according to the state lottery. The overall odds of winning any Powerball prize are 1 in 25.
All funds from the lottery go to education in the Old Dominion.
