Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
Stumble
Phil Sears / AP
Powerball numbers are chosen in the drawing at the Florida Lottery on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012, in Tallahassee, Fla. The numbers drawn in the $579.9-million game were: 5, 16, 22, 23, 29 and Powerball of 6.
Published Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012 | 8:24 p.m.
Updated Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012 | 10:24 a.m.
Sun coverage
- Five Las Vegans share what they’d do with $550 million Powerball jackpot (11-28-2012)
- Record Powerball jackpot sends Nevadans packing to Arizona (11-28-2012)
- Compared to winning the Powerball lottery, what are the chances of other things happening? (11-26-2012)
- Hundreds line up for 1-in-175-million shot at Powerball lottery (11-26-2012)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Two lucky ticket holders — one in Arizona and another in Missouri — are waking up Thursday to new lives as multimillionaires after the largest Powerball jackpot drawing ever.
Lottery officials said the winning Arizona ticket was sold at store in suburban Phoenix. It was issued at a 4 Sons Food Store in Fountain Hills.
Powerball officials said two tickets matched all six numbers to win the record $587.5 million jackpot. The numbers drawn for Wednesday night for the second-highest jackpot in U.S. lottery history are 5, 16, 22, 23, 29. The Powerball is 6.
It was not clear whether the winning tickets belonged to individuals or were purchased by groups.
One of the winning tickets was sold in the Kansas City area but the winner has yet to come forward, Missouri Lottery spokesman Gary Gonder said. The ticket holder has 180 days to claim the prize.
Gonder said he would visit the store that sold the winning ticket to help with an expected onslaught of media attention. No details on that store have been released.
Americans went on a ticket-buying spree in the run-up to Wednesday's drawing, the big money enticing many people who rarely, if ever, play the lottery to purchase a shot at the second-largest payout in U.S. history.
Tickets were selling at a rate of 130,000 a minute nationwide — about six times the volume from a week ago. That pushed the jackpot even higher, said Chuck Strutt, executive director of the Multi-State Lottery Association.
Iowa Lottery spokeswoman Mary Neumauer said the jackpot was estimated at $587.5 million by early Thursday, adjusted slightly upward from the $579.9 million estimate at the time of the drawing. The cash payout was $384.7 million.
Among those who had been hoping to win was Lamar Fallie, a jobless Chicago man who said his six tickets conjured a pleasant daydream: If he wins, he plans to take care of his church, make big donations to schools and then "retire from being unemployed."
The jackpot had already rolled over 16 consecutive times without a winner, but Powerball officials said Wednesday they believed there was a 75 percent chance the winning combination would be drawn this time.
Some experts had predicted that if one ticket hit the right numbers, chances were good that multiple ones would. That happened in the Mega Millions drawing in March, when three ticket buyers shared a $656 million jackpot, which remained the largest lottery payout of all time. And it happened again for Wednesday's Powerball drawing.
Yvette Gavin, who sold the tickets to Fallie, is only an occasional lottery player herself, but she said the huge jackpot compelled her to play this time. As for the promises she often gets from ticket purchasers, Gavin isn't holding her breath.
"A lot of customers say if they win they will take care of me, but I will have to wait and see," she said.
Gov. Sandoval should be concerned with the money a lottery would bring in for education rather than the myth of how a lottery would effect the casino's bottom line. I hope whoever won the PB is a Nevadan who made that drive from NV to AZ to buy a ticket. The AZ governor must be sporting a big smile while reading the morning paper right about now.
Before we jump all over this would be good for our schools check out this article.
http://www.publicschoolreview.com/articl...
Something to think about.
"one of the biggest problems is that the more the lotteries bring in to schools, the more states cut education budgets in anticipation of those windfalls."
No need to drive to Arizona soon. As from April prim casino will be selling powerball from its Nv/Ca border lottery store. Stupid Nevada giving California all the tax money.