Powerball Ticket Worth $337M Sold In Lapeer
LAPEER (WWJ/AP) - Someone, somewhere in Michigan has just become very, very rich.
Michigan Lottery spokesperson Andi Brancato said one winning Powerball lottery ticket was sold at the Sunoco gas station on North Main Street in Lapeer.
"It turns out that it was the third largest Powerball jackpot ever and the seventh largest jackpot in U.S. history. It was $337 million and a cash value of $241 million," said Brancato.
The winning numbers in Wednesday night's drawing were 6, 27, 46, 51, 56 and Powerball 21.
Brancato said there's been no word yet of who the winner is, but they have quite some time to claim their prize.
"Winners of prizes of this size, which is obviously enormous, can take some time to consult with a financial advisor or perhaps an accountant before they contact us... The winner has a year from the draw date to claim the prize," she said.
Brancato said once the winner does come forward, their name and hometown will be released to the public.
"This is always a big concern for winners but we want people to know that we work very closely with them on this so that it does not become a bad experience for them. We also want people to know that the reason that we do this is very important for the transparency of the lottery and an accountability of the lottery. We need to let people know that there really are winners out there and we actually do pay a prize to actual people," she said.
At that lucky Lapeer Sunoco Station, WWJ's Pat Sweeting spoke with Manager Sam Odish, who said the phone's been ringing off the hook since the announcement.
"I mean, that's too big! We never sold that big ... We're so so happy, we're excited," Odish said.
Odish said his family will decide what to do with the $50,000 their service station will receive for selling the winning ticket.
In addition to the jackpot-winning ticket, there were eight tickets that matched five of the winning numbers to win $1 million. Two of those tickets were sold in Indiana. The others were sold in Kansas, Kentucky, New Jersey, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
There was also a ticket sold in Nebraska that added the Power Play to win $2 million.
Powerball is a multi-state lottery game offered in 42 states, Washington D.C., and the US Virgin Islands. The odds of winning a Powerball jackpot are 1 in 175 million.
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