BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Powerball jackpot has climbed up to $360 million, ahead of Wednesday night's drawing. But if it wasn't for the number 23, most of that money would belong to a Boca Raton man.
That's the only number that didn't match Craig Agranoff's ticket in Saturday night's drawing. He matched the other four white balls and the powerball number.
"So many things go through your head and I jumped out of my seat and at that moment I said, 'I won!,'" Agranoff told Local 10's Jason Martinez.
Agranoff, who often joins the Local 10 Morning News Team via Skype as a tech expert, bought several tickets at a Boca Raton gas station ahead of Saturday's drawing. For a few seconds, he thought he had won the $270 million prize.
"I've always had this lottery contingency plan in place. How would I tell my wife? Would I not tell my wife? Come home and show her the bank account?"
But that thought turned out to be pointless. Upon closer inspection he realized he was off by just one number-- 23.
Agranoff's ticket: 6-13-19-25-43-16.
The winning ticket: 6-13-19-23-43-16.
Agranoff isn't walking away with nothing. He still gets to claim a $10,000 prize. He says usually he wouldn't complain about winning ten grand, but this time is different.
"The fact that it was $270 million. I am $269,990,000 away from where I should because of one stinking number!"
'Twenty-three' is now a dirty word in the Agranoff home.
"I don't ever want to see the number 23 again! I will never let my son be number 23 on sports teams!" Agranoff added that he will no longer support Don Mattingly (a former #23 in baseball) or Michael Jordan (who wore #23 jerseys during his years with the Chicago Bulls).
The odds of what happened to Agranoff are around one in 649,000.
But those aren't enough to stop him from trying for the jackpot again! When he checked in with Local 10 Wednesday morning, he was optimistic.
"I'm going to win tonight!"
Who knows. It could happen.