Two US lottery winners pull in a total exceeding $1 billion

WASHINGTON - Some lucky person in New Hampshire has won $560 million in a Powerball lottery, officials said Sunday, just two days after someone in Florida won a cool $450 million, helping push the weekend's total past $1 billion, apparently for the first time in US history.

The winning ticket in New Hampshire was sold at Reeds Ferry Market in Merrimack, a city of 25,000, state lottery officials said. The identity of the winner was not immediately revealed.

The $560 million prize, the sixth-largest Powerball jackpot ever, came a year and a half after another New Hampshire player cashed in a $487 million Powerball ticket.

The winning Mega Millions ticket in Florida was purchased at a 7-Eleven convenience store in the small central town of Port Richey. The $450 million payout was the fourth-largest jackpot ever in that lottery.

That winner was also not identified.

Lottery officials in both states congratulated the winners but urged them to take proper precautions.

"Before the winner begins making plans to buy an expensive yacht or a mansion, I would encourage him or her to take a moment to process what winning the prize means," said Charlie McIntyre, executive director of the New Hampshire Lottery, in a statement Sunday.

The winner, he said, should sign the winning ticket; talk to a lawyer and meet with a financial professional; and "think about what you want to do with the money" before actually claiming the prize.

The New Hampshire winner has a full year to do so, and can choose between an instant cash payment of $358.5 million or yearly payments over 30 years for the full amount. The store that sold the winning ticket receives a $75,000 commission.

The winner in Florida has 180 days to claim the prize, either as a one-time payment of $281.2 million or in 30 annual payments. The 7-Eleven store that sold the ticket wins $100,000.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

U.S. Powerball, Mega Millions jackpots top $1 billion

CHICAGO - U.S. lottery players on Friday and Saturday night will get two shots at record Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots that together topped $1 billion after going months without a winner.

At stake in Friday's 11 p.m. EST (0400 GMT Saturday) Mega Millions drawing is a $450 million prize, the fourth-largest in its history with a $281 million payout if the winner selects a lump-sum payment.

Saturday's 10:59 p.m. EST Powerball drawing is worth $570 million, with a $358.5 million lump-sum payment that is the fifth-largest in its history, according to organizers.

Together they constituted the third-largest combined total.

Long odds have not stopped "lottery fever" from spreading, with people lining up at retailers to buy the $2 tickets, said Jeff Lenard, spokesman for the National Association of Convenience Stores, whose members sell about 60 percent of the nation's lottery tickets.

"There's definitely more traffic," Lenard said.

Americans spent $80.5 billion on lottery games last year, according to the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries.

Powerball tickets are sold in 44 states, and Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Mega Millions tickets are offered in the same locations excluding Puerto Rico.

The largest Powerball jackpot was a $1.6 billion payout split among winners in California, Florida and Tennessee in January 2016, the association said. The largest Mega Millions jackpot of $656 million was won in 2012.

No one has hit either jackpot since October, allowing the totals to balloon. On Wednesday, no one won the Powerball jackpot worth an estimated $460 million. A day earlier, no one matched all six numbers in Mega Millions drawing, lottery officials said.

The estimated totals are before taxes are assessed.

The odds of a single ticket hitting all six numbers in the Powerball are 292 million to 1, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association. The odds of picking the right six numbers for the Mega Millions jackpot are 303 million to 1, the game said.

"When the jackpots reach these levels, everyone starts to daydream about what they would do if they won," Gordon Medenica, Mega Millions lead director, said in a statement.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

California lottery says it has a winner in $1.6 bln Powerball jackpot

LOS ANGELES - At least one unidentified person in California won the massive $1.59-billion Powerball lottery on Wednesday, officials said after drawing the winning numbers for the world's largest potential jackpot for a single player.

The winning ticket was sold at a 7-Eleven convenience store in Chino Hills, a suburb east of Los Angeles, California Lottery officials said. No other states have reported selling a winning ticket for the $1.586-billion prize.

Crowds descended on the store after word emerged where the winning ticket had been bought, to snap pictures and congratulate the clerk. The store will receive a $1-million bonus for selling the ticket.

The six winning numbers were 08, 27, 34, 04, 19 and Powerball 10. They were picked during a late Wednesday drawing at lottery offices in Tallahassee, Florida.

The payout is worth about $930 million if a winner chooses an immediate cash payout instead of annual payments over 29 years, the Multi-State Lottery Association says. Powerball is played in 44 states, Washington, D.C. and two U.S. territories.

The odds of picking a winning combination were 1 in 292 million.

The prospect of becoming North America's newest billionaire sparked a ticket-buying frenzy that was expected to reach a rate of $1.3 million per minute during the evening commuter rush hour, Gary Grief, executive director of the Texas lottery, told a news conference.

Powerball sales were "exponentially higher" than normal, Grief said. Since the jackpot was last hit on Nov. 4, 2015, a total of $2.65 billion worth of Powerball tickets has been sold, he added.

The prospect of becoming an instant billionaire spurred ticket-buyers to imagine an affluent future.

"If I win, I'll give it all away to poor people," said New York restaurant deliveryman Osman Gamie, 43, after buying a dozen of the $2 tickets at a midtown Manhattan grocery.

Tatiann Cave, a 23-year-old home health aide, said she would use the jackpot to start her own cosmetics business.

"I'd like to quit my job and do something inspiring," Cave said.

For every $1 worth of Powerball sales, half goes to prizes, 40 percent to causes such as education, and 10 percent to retailers who sell the tickets and other administrative costs, Grief said

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Winning tickets in $564M jackpot bought at food mart, gas station

DALLAS - A food mart in a small city north of Dallas, Texas, and a gas station in southern Puerto Rico were two of three places where winning tickets were sold in the estimated $564.1 million U.S. Powerball lottery, officials said on Thursday.

Winning tickets were sold in Princeton, Texas, Ponce, Puerto Rico and North Carolina for the jackpot drawing Wednesday night, which was the third-largest in the game's history and one of the largest lottery jackpots ever in the United States.

It is the first time Puerto Rico has a Powerball winner, but the ticket buyer has not come forward yet.

"We've only been selling Powerball here for four months, and we've already been surprised with a good prize," said Enid Rodriguez, a lottery spokeswoman in Puerto Rico.

Laisa Rodriguez, manager at the Shell station that sold the winning ticket, said she hopes more people will buy lottery tickets there in the future, thinking "that it's the lucky spot."

"We're super excited," she said.

The Texas ticket was bought with the cash option, meaning the winner or winners will receive about $127 million before taxes, the Texas Lottery said. The holder of that winning ticket has yet to come forward, a lottery spokeswoman said.

The Appletree Food Mart in Princeton where the ticket was sold will receive a $1 million retailer bonus, the Texas Lottery said. The business, a Valero gas station, is owned by husband and wife Chandra Siwakoti and Smriti Acharya.

"You never think of something like this happening so when it did, we couldn't imagine it," Acharya said in a telephone interview.

The Powerball rolled over for nearly three months, pushing the jackpot beyond the half-billion mark until three tickets matched the numbers 11, 13, 25, 39 and 54, lottery officials said. The Powerball number was 19.

Winners can select a lump-sum cash payout or opt to take annuity payments over 29 years, before taxes. Before Wednesday, the last Powerball jackpot was won in late November at $90 million.

The jackpot has reverted to its starting point at $40 million. Drawings are made on Wednesday and Saturday nights and tickets cost $2 each. The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are one in 175 million.

The biggest Powerball jackpot awarded by the Multi-State Lottery Association was $590.5 million in May 2013 to the holder of a single winning ticket. The association's Mega Millions lottery awarded a top prize of $656 million three years ago.

Powerball tickets are sold in 44 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com