Victoria Cavaliere/Reuters
It was the fever that took over America as the Powerball jackpot reached an unprecedented $1.5 billion. After the drawing, three tickets matched the winning numbers of 08 27 34 04 19 and Powerball 10. Each ticket is worth $528.8 million. The odds of having the correct numbers: 1 in 292 million.
Balbir Atwal owner of the 7-Eleven store that sold one of the winning Powerball tickets, holds the check he received for $1 million dollars at his store in Chino Hills, Calif. on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2016. Atwal, who came to the U.S. from India in 1981, owns four 7-Elevens. He says he will share his winnings with employees and family, and give some to charity. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
There had been 20 Powerball drawings since Nov. 4, the last time there was a winning ticket for the jackpot. This allowed the prize money to reach a record $1.586 billion
It was the largest lottery prize ever offered in North America, and no other lottery in the world had ever featured a jackpot of that size that could be won on a single ticket.
The winners in Florida and Tennessee have not come forward and officials have not said if anyone in California had claimed the prize.
One ticket was sold at a 7-Eleven convenience store in Chino Hills. Two other winning tickets were sold in Munford, Tennessee, and Melbourne Beach, Florida.
Crowds descended on the California store that sold a winning ticket, with customers snapping pictures and congratulating the sales associate. The store will receive a $1,000,000 bonus.
To receive the full jackpot amount, winners must accept a multi-year annuity, whereas the lump sum cash payout for the jackpot was about $983.5 million.
For every $1 worth of Powerball sales, half goes to prizes, 40 percent is earmarked for things such as education, and 10 percent goes to retailers who sell the tickets and administrative costs.
The cycle will start again on Saturday night when the next Powerball drawing will have an estimated jackpot of $40 million.
To read more, click here: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-powerball-idUSKCN0UR2KD20160114
