By Matt Montgomery

editor@mustangnews.info

Some say money is the best Christmas present. In Mustang resident Kathi Mersman’s case, she became a millionaire for Christmas.

Mersman is Oklahoma’s newest lottery millionaire, after winning $2 million playing Powerball.

She bought her Powerball ticket at Cigarette Warehouse on Christmas Eve in Mustang. Mersman matched five of five white balls and added the Powerplay option for an additional $1 per play, which doubled her winnings from $1 million to $2 million.

After taxes, Mersman walked away with about $1.42 Million, taking the lump sum option.

She chose her numbers through the Easy Pick system and said she plans to use her winnings to pay off her house and is planning a vacation.

When it was officially announced the winner of the Powerball had bought their ticket from the Mustang store, the identity of the winner wasn’t immediately known. Oklahoma Lottery officials presented Mersman with her check on Monday.

Cigarette Warehouse owner Lang Du said this is the first time in 13 years of owning her business she has sold a winning Powerball ticket.

“This is overwhelmingly exciting for our customers,” Du said. “I love my customer for winning the big one.”

Du said she hopes this winner will steer in more lottery players to her business.

The winning numbers from Mersman’s ticket were 11, 12, 46, 47 and 50. The Powerball number was 22. Mersman was actually the second $2 million Powerball winner in less than seven days. This is the 43^rd time a winner in Oklahoma has won a prize of $1 million or more, the lottery commission reported.  Four of those winners have been lucky enough to hit the Powerball jackpot since the Oklahoma Lottery’s launch. Winners have 180 days from the day of the drawing to claim their prize at the Oklahoma Lottery headquarters in Oklahoma City.

Oklahoma Lottery reports that all lottery games are used to support improvements and enhancements for Oklahoma education.