Powerball Winner 'Lookalike' Of Gloria C. Mackenzie Picks Up Check For 180 Diners At Florida Restaurant

Did The Powerball Winner Pick Up Check For Entire Restaurant?

Nearly 200 diners at Buddy Freddys in Plant City, Fla., hit the lottery Sunday when a generous woman picked up the check.

But was it record Powerball winner Gloria C. Mackenzie? After all, she lives nearby in Zephyrhills, and she's got deep pockets, thanks to the $590 million jackpot she claimed last week.

Conjecture spread throughout the all-you-can-eat restaurant when the so-called "lookalike" covered the $2,600 tab for about 180 customers, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

Manager Stephanie Reaves told the paper "it sure looked like her" and recalled the sight of diners applauding and hugging her.

Surprisingly, not one patron or staffer took a picture or video, Reaves told The Huffington Post on Wednesday.

"Down south we're a little slow," she joked.

But Reaves now believes it wasn't Mackenzie after all. She said staff checked out Mackenzie's photo online and determined it didn't match the charitable stranger.

Mackenzie is 84, and Reaves said the mystery diner appeared to be in her 70s. Besides, the woman herself denied being Mackenzie when asked that day.

"We're certain it wasn't her," Reaves said.

Reaves, however, does have a theory to explain the stranger's act of kindness: The visitor, whoever she is, might have won big at the nearby Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and decided to share her good fortune.

Whatever the scenario, the lottery "lookalike" made a lot of diners happy.

"Normally people don't do stuff like that," Reaves said.

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