‘You gotta play to win’: Man makes history with $167 million lottery prize

GEORGETOWN, Ky. (WKYT/Gray News) - A Kentucky man made history on Saturday by going to bed $167 million richer than he woke up.

James Farthing had a typical start to his weekend Saturday when he walked into Georgetown’s Clark’s Pump n’ Shop to buy a Powerball lottery ticket along with a sweet treat.

“I come in here all the time,” Farthing said. “I’m always buying [lottery tickets] ‘cause I’m like, ‘Somebody’s gotta win.’”

That “somebody” ended up being Farthing, who found out he won the largest Powerball jackpot in Kentucky history from his mother the next morning.

“I called and texted it to him,” Farthing’s mother, Linda Grizzly, said. “He said the man here sold it to him.”

The man Grizzly is referring to is Mitch Bowling, the man who was on the other side of the counter when the winning ticket was sold.

“I’ve sold big winners before, but nothing like this,” Bowling, who has worked at the shop for nearly a decade, said. “I mean, this is unprecedented.”

But the city of Georgetown does have precedent when it comes to lottery winnings, with a Travel Pro Marathon serving as the home of the state’s second-highest jackpot sale in 2009.

While Farthing may not yet have woken up from his dream of winning the Powerball jackpot, he leaves other lottery hopefuls with a priceless line of advice.

“You gotta play to win,” he said.

Farthing still has to bring his winning ticket to Louisville to be verified, but his numbers match the winners from Saturday night’s drawing.

The next Powerball drawing will be at 11 p.m. Monday, with the estimated jackpot sitting at $20 million.

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