Ex-Marine, wife win $200 million Powerball

Odds of winning were 140 million-to-1; couple bought tickets in Iowa

	Tim and Kellie Guderian, of Fort Dodge, Iowa, receive a check from Iowa Lottery CEO Edward Stanek, left, on Wednesday. Tim served during Desert Storm; Kelly works at Wal-Mart.
Charlie Neibergall / AP

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updated 4:03 p.m. ET Oct. 4, 2006

DES MOINES, Iowa - A Fort Dodge couple who bought three Powerball tickets during a pit stop for soda came forward Wednesday to claim the $200 million jackpot.

Tim and Kellie Guderian bought the winning ticket Sept. 23 at a Kum & Go store in Fort Dodge.

They discovered their good fortune the following evening, as Kellie read off the winning numbers to an awe-struck Tim.

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“What a stroke of luck,” Tim Guderian said. “It seemed like a dream.”

According to the Iowa lottery, the odds of winning were about 140 million-to-1.

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Tim Guderian, 36, served in the Marines during Operation Desert Storm and works as an automotive detailer in Fort Dodge. His 44-year-old wife of nearly seven years is a sales associate at the Wal-Mart where the pair first met.

Receiving a lump sum
The Guderians chose to take the lump-sum payment, which amounts to $67.1 million after taxes.

The winning ticket numbers were computer-picked. They were 13-21-26-45-50 and Powerball 20.

Powerball, which began in 1985, is played in 29 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The biggest lottery jackpot in U.S. history is a $365 million Powerball prize won by eight workers at a Nebraska meatpacking plant in February.