An Iowa man was on cloud nine when he discovered that he's the "idiot" who hasn't claimed an $800,000 Powerball lottery prize. According to Iowa Lottery staffers, Ed O'Neill of Clinton had purchased the ticket for a Jan. 6 Powerball drawing but didn't think it necessary to check the results until a co-worker pointed out an article in the local newspaper which mentioned of a person who had failed to claim a hefty Powerball lottery prize.

O'Neill, 58, who works for the Clinton Chamber of Commerce, said he was talking to a receptionist at the Chamber who cursorily showed him an article saying, "'Read this article about the idiot that hasn't claimed his ticket.'"

"So I read it and noticed where the ticket was bought. I thought, 'Gee, I better look at my ticket,'" he told the AP.

After figuring out that he was the winner, O'Neill called his wife, Diane, 58, who initially thought her husband was pulling a prank on her.

"She said, 'Quit horsing around. I'm watching Oprah,'" O'Neill recalled to AP.

However, after clearing all the confusions, the couple picked their $800,000 check Monday at the lottery headquarters in Des Moines.

O'Neill won by matching five white balls in the Powerball game. Since he had also purchased the Power Play option, it multiplied his winning amount $200,000 by four, sending his prize money up at $800,000, according to AP.

After taxes, the couple will get about $560,000, which they plan to use to pay off their mortgage, pay off their children's mortgages and save for retirement.