Baxter Springs man thought his lottery ticket was worth $100, but he was wrong

After checking his Powerball ticket a few days after the May 6 drawing, James “Bob” Dinger of Baxter Springs was excited: He figured he had won $100.

But when the store clerk tried to validate the ticket, she couldn’t. The prize was worth more than the store is allowed to pay out.

Together, the clerk and Dinger figured out what the Powerball ticket was actually worth. He was in for a shock.

“I went from thinking I had won $100 to actually winning $50,000!” Dinger said in a statement released by the Kansas Lottery. “It took a while for that to soak in.”

Dinger, 58, says he’s been playing Powerball since the game began in Kansas in 1992. He always uses the same numbers: his wife’s birthday, his kids’ birthdays and his birthday.

He has two grown children and two granddaughters.

He says he’ll keep playing the same numbers in hopes of one day landing an even bigger prize. In the meantime, he plans to pay off bills with the winnings as well as remodel their home and take a vacation to an island this fall since his wife loves sand.

This story was originally published May 17, 2017 at 3:12 PM with the headline "Baxter Springs man thought his lottery ticket was worth $100, but he was wrong."