When it comes to Powerball, a Montgomery County woman proves that once again, it’s not about whether you win or lose… it’s about the thrill of buying and hoarding the tickets. Palmira Nicolo of Wyndmoor fell victim to the tranquilizer-like effects of playing Powerball, taking it slow and not cashing in her $46 million-winning ticket purchased way back in February until now. Palmira follows in the footsteps of Brenda Stover of New Cumberland, Cumberland County, who recently went through her collection of old Powerball tickets kept in a shoebox — ponder that for a moment — to find and redeem a year-old winning ticket the day before it expired. While Brenda’s winning ticket was worth $400,000, she surely cannot put a price on the sentimental value of her used ticket collection. She probably considered that ticket to be her own personal Honus Wagner card and had a great internal struggle over whether to sell it or hold onto it, hoping it would become a family heirloom and appreciate in value. Luckily, both Brenda and Palmira snapped out of their Powerball-induced stupors in time to claim their winnings. But what is it about Powerball that makes people buy tickets and not check them? Is it really some strange love of “rescuing” non-winning tickets? Can somebody clue us in, because we just don’t get it.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 18th, 2009 at 2:42 pm.