Lottery winner collects — in style

Shawn Niedomanski pulled up to Maryland Lottery headquarters on Friday in Baltimore in a chauffeur-driven limousine with his wife, brother, nephew and three friends by his side.

The $200,000 Powerball jackpot winner bought his winning ticket two weeks ago, but waited until his 50th birthday to pick up the prize. It made the day more special, he said.

Though the win makes for a better birthday and holiday season, “it’s not enough to quit my job,” said Niedomanski, an Ijamsville kitchen remodeler.

Nothing has changed, he said.

“It’s like it’s never happened. I still got my job, and all I’m doing is paying off bills,” Niedomanski said. “Of course, I don’t end up with $200,000. Uncle Sam’s got to get his share.”

After the 35 percent tax, Niedomanski said he ends up with $131,000.

He bought the ticket on a Tuesday evening at 3:59 p.m.

“That’s how I kind of knew I could be the winner, because I was in that store around that time,” Niedomanski said. “I had won $2 on Keno so I told the clerk to give me two Powerball tickets. The clerk said, ‘No, Mega Millions is tonight,’ but I told her, ‘No, I want Powerball.'”Niedomanski said he plays the lottery four to six times a week and spends $50 in an average week.

“Sometimes I splurge and sometimes I don’t,” he said. “It’s different every week.”

After the Nov. 3 drawing, a friend told Niedomanski a second-tier winning ticket had been sold at Green Valley Wine & Spirits, 11801 Fingerboard Road, Monrovia, where Niedomanski bought his tickets.

“Initially, I didn’t think anything of it, but when the clerk at the store told me when the ticket was sold, I realized I was there at that time,” Niedomanski said.

When he realized he had the winning numbers, “I started jumping up and down,” Niedomanski said.

While Niedomanski will use his prize money to pay bills and get out of debt, he used a bit of it to celebrate in Charles Town, W.Va., where he played blackjack and won $1,000, he said.

Niedomanski is Maryland’s 12th second-tier $200,000 Powerball winner in 2011.

Since its inception in 1973, the Maryland Lottery has awarded more than $18.73 billion in prizes to players and $12.2 billion in revenue to the state.

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