Charlotte Woman Wins $500,000 Prize on $3 Powerball Double Play Ticket

Laura Pugerude from Charlotte matched all five white balls in Saturday's Powerball Double Play drawing. She won $500,000. The odds? One in 11.6 million.

Pugerude purchased her ticket at Charlotte's Landing on Express Drive, paying an extra dollar for the Double Play add-on. This feature allows players to enter their Powerball numbers in a second drawing with prizes reaching up to $10 million.

She claimed her prize Thursday at North Carolina Education Lottery headquarters. After required federal and state tax withholdings, Pugerude walked away with $358,751.

Double Play costs $1 and gives players another shot with their numbers in a separate drawing.

Saturday's Powerball jackpot sits at $1.5 billion as an annuity. The cash option is $686.5 million. Winning the Powerball jackpot means beating odds of one in 292 million.

Powerball is one of six draw games available in North Carolina, and players can buy tickets at retail locations or through the lottery's website and mobile app.

Mecklenburg County education programs received $60 million in support from lottery funds last year.