A Bend man who won $1 million with a Powerball ticket last month decided to share the wealth in a gesture of brotherly love. 
 
 Eric Hale, 45, split the spoils 50-50 with his younger brother, Quinn Hale, of Yakima, Washington, on Thursday in Salem. 
 
 Eric and Quinn each took home about $335,000 after taxes, according to the Oregon Lottery. Eric had picked the five numbers — 7, 14, 21, 24 and 41 — correctly but missed the Powerball itself, according to the Oregon Lottery. He played the same numbers he has played for the past 20 years. 
 
 Eric said he and Quinn have been close since childhood. The brothers grew up in Bend and lived together during their 20s and 30s. Despite Quinn’s stint in the Navy and the geographic distance between them, they maintained a promise to share any winnings, said Eric. 
 
 “At some point in there, if we won something, we decided to split it,” he said. 
 
 Eric just completed a bachelor’s degree in psychology and will use some of his lottery spoils to pursue a master’s degree in clinical counseling. He’s also planning to take a 20-day trip to China and to invest some of the winnings. 
 
 Quinn, 43, who is pursuing a doctorate, also will use the money to pay off student loans, said his brother. Quinn works in admissions at Yakima Valley Community College and will put some of the winnings toward a down payment on a motor home, according to Eric. 
 
 Eric purchased the winning ticket Sept. 22 at the Quickway Market off Butler Market Road in Northeast Bend. The total Powerball jackpot was $228.5 million. 
 
 He has played Powerball, and sometimes Megabucks, fairly regularly in an effort to win big, according to a news release from the Oregon Lottery. 
 
 “I just walked in and was gonna get a new ticket and check my ticket,” Eric said of the day he found out, Sept. 24. “I put it in the little blue machine and was like, ‘Oh, that’s crazy.’” 
 
 The Quickway also had a lucky day: Lottery retailers receive a 1 percent commission on all winning tickets over $10,000. 
 
 Store manager Jennefer Seidel didn’t know how the money was going to be spent, though. 
 
 “There’s no real plan for it yet,” Seidel said Monday. “We just found out ourselves last Friday.” 
 
 Although the store has seen winners before, “This is probably the biggest one we’ve had,” she said. 
 
 Eric Hale is Oregon’s second $1 million Powerball winner this year. The first was from Jacksonville, according to Bulletin archives. 
 
 — Reporter: 541-383-0376, cwithycombe@bendbulletin.com 

 Eric Hale split his $1 million Powerball jackpot with his brother Quinn. Photo: The Oregon Lottery 
 
 A Bend man is in the running for the best brother ever. 
 
 Eric Hale of Bend won a $1 million jackpot in the Sept. 24 Powerball drawing. He correctly picked five numbers, but missed the Powerball. 
 
 After learning he had won, Hale quickly called his brother in Yakima, WA. 
 
 "When I was a kid, I promised my brother that if I ever won the lottery, I would split it with him," Hale said. "He was my first call when I realized I won." 
 
 Quinn Hale told lottery officials he didn't believe his brother at first. 
 
 "This is beyond cool," he said. "I never believed he would actually do it." 
 
 After taxes, each brother took home around $335,000, according to the Oregon Lottery. 
 
 Eric Hale purchased the winning ticket at Quick Way Market in Bend on the way to visit his mother. He played the same numbers he has picked for the past 20 years. 
 
 Eric Hale said he is going to invest some of the money and continue graduate school, according to an Oregon Lottery release. Quinn Hale said he is going to use the money to put a down payment on a motorhome and pay off bills. 
 
 RELATED LINKS: 
 
 SLIDESHOW: What are the odds of good and bad things happening to you? 
 
 AUG. 2014: Man initially misses 'ear' on crossword Scratch-It worth $100K 
 
 JULY 2014: Oregon man's losing lottery ticket leads to $100K jackpot 
 
 MAY 2014: Oregon man finds boxes upon boxes of lottery Scratch-its 
 
 JAN. 2014: $100K snowflake: Man forgets to scratch lost spot on lotto ticket 
 
 Copyright 2014 KPTV-KPDX Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved.
– "When I was a kid, I promised my brother that if I ever won the lottery, I would split it with him," Eric Hale tells KPTV. But instead of pleading amnesia when he found out he'd won a Powerball jackpot of $1 million last month, the Oregon man says his brother was the first person he called. "I never believed he would actually do it," says Quinn Hale. But he did: The oversized Oregon Lottery check was made out to Eric & Quinn Hale, and each brother walked away with about $335,000 after taxes. Eric Hale, 45, played the same numbers he's played for two decades—7, 14, 21, 24, and 41—getting all five right, but missing the Powerball number, the Bend Bulletin reports. He bought the ticket en route to visit his mom. He and Quinn, 43, have been close since they were kids, Eric says, and they lived together in their 20s and 30s. Quinn now lives in Washington. He plans to use the money to pay off student loans and for a down payment on a home; his generous brother says he'll invest some money, use some for graduate school, and take a trip to China.