Somewhere in Marrero, someone is walking around with a lottery ticket worth $50,000 and apparently has no idea. A Powerball ticket sold at Discount Depot on the Westbank Expressway hit for $50,000 in the Feb. 11, 2026 drawing and is still listed as unpaid by the Louisiana Lottery. If no one steps forward, the prize quietly expires on Aug. 10, as reported by the Louisiana Lottery Corporation.
Lottery Listing And The 180-Day Clock
According to the Louisiana Lottery Corporation, the winning ticket was sold at Discount Depot in Marrero for the Feb. 11, 2026 Powerball draw and is worth $50,000. The Lottery’s unclaimed-prizes list shows an expiration date of Aug. 10, 2026.
Per the Lottery’s own claim rules, draw-game prizes have to be claimed within 180 days of the drawing. For any win over $5,000, you cannot just stroll up to the counter at your corner store. Claimants generally need to visit a regional office in person with the original ticket, a valid photo ID and a completed claim form, as laid out on the Louisiana Lottery claims page.
Local Outlets Sound The Alarm
The unclaimed Marrero ticket has now caught local media attention. WGNO reported that the $50,000 slip of paper is one of several sizable recent wins around southeast Louisiana that have not been cashed in, prompting repeated reminders for players to dig through old tickets, coat pockets and glove compartments.
How Big Wins Slip Through The Cracks
Unclaimed prizes are often less mystery and more everyday chaos: tickets get tossed in drawers, tucked into birthday cards, or simply never checked. Retailers can only pay out smaller wins at the register, so bigger prizes depend on someone actually noticing the numbers and making the trip to a claim center.
Third-party guides note that the Lottery’s official mobile app includes a built-in ticket scanner, and retailers can validate barcodes at the counter, making it quick to confirm whether a ticket is a winner. Lottery Geeks and local coverage have pointed to a recent run of unclaimed prizes around the region, including a $20,000 ticket in Covington and a $223,475 Easy 5 ticket in Slidell, as cautionary tales for anyone who plays and forgets. WDSU has highlighted similar looming lottery deadlines across Louisiana in recent weeks.
Think You Bought A Ticket In Marrero?
If you even vaguely remember grabbing a Powerball ticket at Discount Depot around Feb. 11, it might be worth a serious rummage through your stuff.
Lottery officials advise that if you find a potentially winning ticket, sign the back immediately, store it somewhere secure and get it to a Lottery regional office as soon as you can. Local reporting notes that Lottery President Rose Hudson has urged winners to “treat the ticket as cash” and to call a regional claim center for guidance, according to KPLC.
Retailers and the Lottery’s app can scan tickets for a fast check, but once you are looking at a prize above $5,000, the next step is contacting your nearest regional office to get the win officially on the books.
