$2 Million Powerball Ticket Sold At Old South Diner, The Fifth Million-Dollar Prize It Has Sold In Two Years

Lightning has struck once again at the Old South Diner.

The luckiest place in Massachusetts has crowned yet another million-dollar winner.

The state lottery announced on Wednesday that the Old South Diner had sold a $2 million Powerball ticket. That marks the fifth million-dollar prize sold at the Nantucket diner over the past two years.

Mary Haley, of Nantucket, was identified by the Massachusetts Lottery Commission as the winner. Haley was joined by a couple of supportive friends when claiming her $2 million prize (before taxes) last week at Massachusetts State Lottery headquarters in Dorchester.

"I was born and raised on Nantucket,” said Haley, who works in the town's Finance Department as a senior clerk. “It’s very exciting to have a local resident win.

Haley, who said she plans to use some of her winnings to buy a new car, noted that Old South Diner has become a place for people on the island to gather and play the Lottery socially.

The winning numbers for the Powerball drawing on Wednesday were 7, 21, 55, 56, and 64, with the Powerball 26, plus a 4X Powerplay.

The Old South Diner is the leading lottery ticket outlet on Nantucket, with more than $3.7 million in net sales in 2005, according to the state lottery commission (although the combined net sales of the two Cumberland Farms locations on Nantucket top $4.4 million). It ranks among the top 10 percent of lottery agents in all of Massachusetts.

Since the string of lucky winners at the Old South Diner began in March 2024, its lottery ticket sales have increased 37 percent, taking market share on the island away from the two Cumberland Farms locations.

Explaining the Old South Diner's inexplicable string of winners earlier this month, Rachel Guerra, the Massachusetts Lottery's deputy director of communications, told the Current: "The more tickets a store sells, the more likely they are to have a big winner. Old South Diner has consistently been among the top 10 percent of agents in recent years. Several other locations have had multiple prizes of $1 million or more in a short span of time, including Silk’s Variety located in Sheffield (three in 2024), Pride Station in East Longmeadow (two in 2024) and Ted’s Stateline Mobil located in Methuen (two in 2022)."

Wednesday's announcement comes just weeks after island resident Yancy Contreras Menjivar, who owns a house cleaning business on Nantucket, hit the jackpot with a $2 million scratch ticket winner. She won the grand prize on the state lottery’s new “$2,000,000 Stacked” instant ticket game.

The string of big winners at The Old South Diner started nearly two years ago on March 11, 2024 when Jose Fontanez, a Boston resident, won a $1 million prize on a $10 scratch ticket.

It continued on June 10, 2024, when a $2 million prize was won by Garen Downie, of Hyannis, on a “Lifetime Millions” $50 scratch ticket.

Then on August 20, 2024, another $1 million prize was won by island chef Sean Durnin on a “$10,000,000 Bonanza” $20 scratch ticket.