Sunday, March 24, 2013

Winning $338M Powerball jackpot ticket sold in N.J

A jackpot dream has come true for the lucky owner of one Powerball ticket worth $338.3 million, and lottery officials in New Jersey are holding a press conference Monday to reveal some details about the lucky ticket from Saturday's drawing.


At the Soda King in Manalapan, N.J., clerk Govind Patel said he is hoping the store's recent good fortune will continue. A week ago a lucky customer hit five numbers -- and won $1 million.

"We are very excited," Patel said. "It would amazing if we sold another winner."

It would also bring a small financial windfall -- the store that sells the winning ticket claims a $10,000 check. The winning numbers from Saturday night's drawing: 17, 29, 31, 52, 53 and Powerball 31. It's the fourth-largest jackpot in Powerball history. A lump sum payout would be $221 million.

Other Powerball players also stand to get rich. One Powerball ticket that matched five numbers, sold in Iowa, is good for $2 million. Spreading the wealth even further, 13 tickets worth a cool $1 million were sold in 11 states. Florida and Pennsylvania each had two; Arizona, Illinois, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, South Carolina and Virginia had one each.

No one had won the Powerball jackpot in more than a month, since Dave Honeywell in Virginia bought the winning ticket worth $217 million.

Electrician Teddy Jackson, who bought a 40 tickets in Tom's River, said Sunday he checked his tickets more than once to make sure he had no winner.

"There were a few where I had one or two numbers, but that was it," Jackson, 45, said. "Now, I have to watch someone else get my money, buy the powerboat I would have gotten …. it was fun to dream."

The largest U.S. jackpot of any kind was a $656 million Mega Millions pot, won March 30, 2012, and split by winners in Maryland, Illinois and Kansas.

The largest Powerball jackpot ever came in at $587.5 million in November. The winnings were split between two winners -- a couple in Missouri and an Arizona man.

The largest Powerball jackpot won by a single ticket was $365 million claimed in Nebraska in February 2006. But even that one was split -- eight workers at a Lincoln, Neb., meatpacking plant had pooled their funds.

Powerball is played in 42 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The chance of hitting all five numbers and the Powerball number is about 1 in 175 million.



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