Coloradans have only won Powerball twice

Does it seem like Coloradans rarely win the big Powerball jackpot? That's because it is true.

Since Colorado joined the Powerball in 2001, there have been two jackpot winners -- a man in Rifle won a $90 million jackpot in 2014 and two couples won $20 million in 2007.

Rifle winner

Claude "Al" G., who did not give out his last name, drove a tow truck for a living in Rifle before his windfall.

After claiming the prize, he said his family's most immediate plan for the money was to take a big vacation.

Al bought the winning ticket at the north Rifle Kum & Go convenience store, the same town where he graduated from high school in 1979.

He said he had played the lottery for years and had never came close to winning.

2007 winners

In 2007, a group of European immigrants who had moved from Poland to Colorado won the Powerball jackpot.

The SEEP Financial Group claimed the $20 million jackpot on behalf of the two couples. Stanislawa Markiewicz and her husband Eugen and Stanislawa's brother and sister-in-law, who asked that their names not be released.

The group legally immigrated to the United States. They had lived in Colorado for five years before they won Powerball.

The families went in together on a ticket. They picked their own numbers.

"We've been playing the same numbers every week the whole time," said a member of the group through a translator. They had won $28 in the drawing right before they won the jackpot. The numbers were a combination of special dates and lucky numbers.

With the annuity option they are still getting checks. Their first check was for $365,602. The final 30th check will be for $1.11 million.