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Subscribe to RSSOne set of winners, from Missouri, has already come forward. But mystery still surrounds the person who bought the winning ticket in Arizona. NBC's Kerry Sanders reports.
It's not just the two jackpot winners who hit big in Wednesday's Powerball drawing. Besides the $587 million grand prize, the lottery offered $131 million in other prizes, and those ended up creating at least 60 other instant millionaires.
Powerball sold 8,924,125 winning tickets for this week's drawing, said the Multi-State Lottery Association, which runs Powerball in the 27 states that participate.
Nearly all of them are for relatively small returns, but in addition to the two big jackpot tickets, there were 66 million-dollar tickets in 25 states. The winners have 180 days to claim their prizes, so there's no way to track down all of the winners. But a handful have already stepped forward, some of them with stories just as compelling as those of the jackpot winners:
Take, for instance, the 22 Columbus, Ohio, cops who went in on a ticket that hit a million at a gas station in nearby Grandview Heights. They'll take home about $30,000 apiece once they divide up what's left after the government takes its 30 percent cut.
Lt. Kevin Conley, one of the winning officers, said none of the cops likely has grandiose plans — he hopes to finance a few vacations for himself and his wife.
"Remember, you're talking to a whole bunch of cops. We're not a whole bunch of people that'll be jumping around screaming and yelling. We don't do that," Conley told NBC station WCMH of Columbus. "Everybody's happy, and they're smiling. They're doing that."
In an odd coincidence, several of the winning Powerball numbers matched the jersey numbers of baseball players in the Kansas City Royals Hall of Fame: Mark Gubicza, Dan Quisenberry and Dennis Leonard to name a few. NBC's Kerry Sanders reports.
Almerta Williams of Edgewood, Md., did the double: Because she paid extra for the Bonus Powerball option, her million-dollar ticket is actually worth $2 million. And even that was a mistake.
11 things more likely to happen than winning the Powerball jackpot
Williams told NBC station WBAL of Baltimore that she won only because she marked down the wrong number — she meant to mark down a 3, but instead she marked a 5.
"So I told my kids, 'You all make fun of me because I can't see?' I said, 'Me not being able to see got me $2 million. I'm a rich blind woman,'" Williams said.
For Larry Chandler, 34, of Highland, Ind., the $1 million he scored Wednesday should be enough to put him back in his home. He's been living with his girlfriend because his own home is in foreclosure.
"I've never won anything in my life, and I've played lots of different things. I just never won anything, so finally I won something, and it's pretty cool," Chandler said.
Chandler plans to be back on the line Monday at his job as a union electrician with BP. This week? He's spending it consulting with his dad, a financial planner, about what to do with the money.
That's a common theme. Besides Chandler and the Columbus cops, other million-dollar-ticket winners say they, too, will be back in the office.
Take Jerry Hucks of Rock Hill, S.C., just south of Charlotte, N.C. He also said he wouldn't abandon his job as a truck builder for Daimler Trucks. But he also said wouldn't be accepting overtime anymore, either.
Hucks was in his truck Thursday morning when he flipped on the light and saw the winning numbers on his ticket.
"I didn't even have the truck door locked, and I had a million-dollar ticket out there," Hucks told lottery officials in Columbia. "Then I can't believe I let three or four guys at work hold my ticket and Google the numbers, screaming, 'It's a $1 million!'"
Hucks told NBC station WIS of Columbia that he then called his girlfriend with the news and began driving home. His nerves held out until he hit the road.
Pretty soon, he had to pull over to throw up.
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Leave a Comment:
'pretty soon he had to pull over to throw up' - man i feel that
Why, did you win a million bucks too?
Thanks to those so called winners in Arizona we have another Madonna complex. A little rich imported kid from china. Lord knows there's no children in the United States of America who need a home. None at all.
Okicize..what the hell is the matter with you?
The lottery makes a few very rich while the majority, that usually cannot afford it, get nothing. We very seldom hear of just where all this so-called educational lottery money goes. To me, it seems it does more harm to millions, while rewarding only a few.
His name is Raaalllppphhhh man!
I would have been happy with $10K. Will one number suffice to win cuz that is all we go out of 3 tickets. Sigh..... I'm happy a deserving couple won. Broke one day filthy rich the next. Now THAT is an American Dream worth having.
I'm happy for the "few" people who do win big. But it's like taking a truckload of food into a country full starving people, and then giving all that food to one person...and the rest have to starve? How fair is that???
The Multi State Lottery Association needs to restructure the way that the Power Ball and Mega Millions lotteries pay out.
Instead of one person getting $300 million dollars, why not divide $300 million amongst 300 hundred lottery players? Equally across all states that the lotteries are played in, so that you have an equal number of winners in each state!
Think about how much good this would do for the economy! It would be creating thousands of millionaires per year, instead of just 5 or 10 people.
I have started a petition for this, below is the link.
GO TO IPETITIONS dot COM and sign the petition to change the lottery payouts!
And the subheadline should read, "Thousands of desperate people throw their savings away."
Congratulations to all the winners and to all of you complaining, crying, whiners, Get Over It, it had not a thing to do with your money, so go to another site and cry in your beer.
Jealousy and envy is their problem, you winners do whatever you want to, and enjoy and be thankful!!!
Congratulations to all of the New PowerBall Winners! It is great to hear how so many people became instant millionaires, in this Poor Economy,with so many people unemployed,(myself included) it is inspiring to see how many of these people will think before they spend,and keep working. Good luck,and don't spend it all in one place :)
Sadly they aren't actually millionaires.. They are hundredthousandaires.. about 500k depending on the state they live in. 35% to the fed plus state taxes.
And there is a disclaimer in the rules that says the 5-of-5 prize may be reduced if there are too many winners and not enough money in it. "All set prizes and Power Play prizes, including the Match 5+0 prize, may be reduced if claims exceed available prize fund. In such circumstances, these prizes may become pari-mutuel as defined in the game rules. Pari-mutuel means that prize amounts are shared equally among all winners of the available prize pool for that prize level."
So there is a chance they will have to share the prize pool.
Although a prize like this is not enough to retire on, it would be a nice chunk of money to get that thing you always dreamed of having.. a nice car, a healthy down payment on a nice house, a college education for your kids, a good vacation.. If you don't change your lifestyle, you could even die with money left in the bank to pass on to your kids.
I don't know if it would be worth all the people trying to get you to give them money, the "friends" trying to guilt you into helping them out, the family members showing their true colors and assuming that since you are rich you should be spreading the wealth.. They are already perceived as "millionaires" but most middle class couldn't do more than pay off their house and car(s), and maybe put some aside for their kids or grandkids college before being tapped out.. It is a healthy amount of money, but far from what it used to be. The best thing you could do for yourself would be to not say a word, collect your money, and go on with life like nothing happened.. You could go to sleep every night knowing that you don't have to worry about making the next house payment or what to do if the car breaks down.
The Feds take 35% when you win and then they tax you on what you take home as income for that year. States too if your state has income taxes.
I agree, it's heart warming to hear the stories coming out. I am happy for these people.
It was a good story until reading the last line.
Put your lotto check in the bank right away and waite a few months till your brains get back in order to spend your money wisely, and good luck.
With the way things are going today , I wouldn't put anything in the bank. Why let them collect the interest ... after they got bailed out by Sants Claus, getting a loan from them is like pulling teeth. That check is good for a year in a safety deposit box or go see an attorney ASAP.
Now I wish they would tell us how many desperate people threw away money they could not afford to lose.
I would love to know how many are from the Southside of Chicago.
I'm formly from the southeast side of Chicago .. (now in Indiana), I'm wondering like you are ... man that neighborhood went to "pot" . whewww !!!
Hope they are ready for all of the taxes Pres. Obama is going to level on their new earnings/investments!
Sorry Val but those high taxes for winnings have been around a LOT longer than the Obama administration.
And the taxes are only going to get higher under Obama...he's not ashamed to admit it either. Especially after he goes after our IRAs, 401Ks, and pension plans. And Obama is the only one who has wished to increase the investment income tax from 15% to 30+%. Hell at that rate we'd be better off stuffing our savings under a mattress. And don't even get me started on the death tax that Democrat libs love so much, aka the "estate" tax. Tax TAX TAX!!!!!!
Hope all you middle income earners are happy with your election choice come January when you open your first 2013 paycheck!
I'm really sick of people like you. Where is your proof that Obama is going after our IRAs, 401Ks, and pension plans?? And why do you think he wants to raise taxes on the middle class?? Don't you read the paper or listen to the news of ANY kind? Obama wants to KEEP the tax cuts for the middle class and expire the tax cuts for the rich. Please explain in what way that says he wants to raise taxes?
Most people like you would say he is just being stubborn and he should just give in and let the rich keep their tax cuts. And that he should really do this because taxing the rich won't make a bit of difference to the national debt. Well, if the difference is so small, then why not agree to let those tax cuts expire? I'll tell you why. 99% of the politicians voting to keep the cuts for the rich are very rich indeed. They don't represent the people that elected them. They represent themselves. And right now they don't personally want their taxes to go up.
Personally, I am sick and tired of the rich paying only a 15% tax rate when hard working folks are paying 25 to 33% in taxes. It's not fair.
And to all you people who say the rich should be rewarded for their hard work, let me enlighten you. Most of them got their money the old fashioned way, they inherited it. They didn't work a day. Not to mention, if you have kids, try this with them. Give one kid 5 toys and give the other 3. The following night, give the the kid you gave 5 toys to, 20 toys. Then give the kid you gave 3 toys to, 3 more toys. When the kid with 6 toys starts crying and complaining it's not fair, try telling him you gave his brother more toys because he had more toys in the first place. Even a kid can understand that's wrong.
Just can't resist bashing, can you. BS all the way.
Sorry your life is so miserable that you can't read a happy story and get anything good out of it. It must be a long, hard life for someone who is so one track minded. Too bad your life is so miserable you blame Obama for everything.
Congratulations to the winners!
Andrewkc69;
Clearly, you aren't schooled in economics or accounting. I'd be willing to bet, after all your exemptions, deductions, credits and other exclusions, you don't pay anywhere close to 33% in taxes. If fact, if after all deductions you pay 15% I'd be amazed. Now, let's look at the real numbers, Say YOU make $100,000 a year, and after all deductions you pay 15% that's $15,000. Now say you made $20 million a year and pay 15%, you would have paid $4.25 million. At $100,000 a year you would not pay that amount over you entire working career. Those with higher incomes also get hit with capital gains taxes, an additional 15% to 30% depending on the source of the income, those who make less never have to deal with capital gains taxes. Just part of the government money grab. But, it's easy to sit in judgement of those things you know nothing about and evidently you won't work to change..
Now, IF you refer to sales tax, excise tax, special use tax, and the myriad other taxes tacked on to everything then maybe. You will likely LOVE the VAT (Value Added Tax ) the government is considering under Obama-care. A 15-20% tax on everything you buy based on the selling price of the item in question. Buy a new car add 20% a new fridge, 15%, not that it will benefit anyone outside the beltway in D.C., but it's taking a swipe at those who make a good living. And who do you suppose these extra taxes will hurt most? Since they will be across the board. Now consider that after 12/31/2012 if you sell your house, 18% goes directly to the government at the closing. So, on a house that sells for $200,000 that's $36,000. But of course, you no doubt feel the government should take money from you pocket from the sale of your property, right? right off the top. "It is not the place of government to tax the fruits of the peoples labors or take food from their mouth's". Thomas Jefferson.
Your kid analogy is nonsense and does not apply. If you give one of your kids more than the other, that's on the parent. Since those who work hard and make a good living aren't your parent, you aren't entitled to what they earn. IF you chose to do better for yourself you can, I did, so do a lot of other people. IF however, you seek only to make inane remarks because others do better than you and you are somehow entitled to a portion of what THEY earn, your an idiot.. Help yourself, if an immigrant can come to this country and make millions, you can't? What?, entitlement-itis holding you back? Stop waiting for government to help you out and get started helping yourself.
Remember, "A government large enough to give you all that you need, is large enough to take all that you have". Benjamin Franklin. Government, my unenlightened friend has never done anything without multiple strings attached. If you are tacking government money they own you.
nic hate to burst your bubble but my wife and i are solid middle class, we pay 35% in federal taxes total. the deductions for our tax bracket are to high for us to have a hope in hell of making.
Nic--it's about percentages, not total amounts. And thanks to Republicans, the rich folks in this country have never had it so good since the days of the robber barons. Obama is going to save the rich from themselves. He is going to make sure that the 99% actually have enough to buy all the imported Chinese sh!t that the 1% are selling. A strong middle class is good for EVERYONE. Sadly many rich people are not as intelligent and insightful as they are greedy.
I say earnings/investments because they risked their own money with the likelihood of losing it - kind of like the stock market - and luckily hit a winner.
Investing in the stock market is nothing but gambling with a lower rate of risk/reward.
That is so great............now they have become part of the rich that obama can tax
You're very bitter. Cool!
May your ulcer continue to grow for at least the next four years!
No need to worry Dale. The trailer park trash income tax bracket will not go up under Obama's plan.
If each Millionaire Power-ball winner used their gift to invest in a business (or property for renting to business's) they could increase their net power-ball profit AND create JOBS for Americans. The best part is, in doing so, they can hire a management company to run their business for them or an adviser to help them so no real experience in business, management, or finance is necessary! They just invest, sit back, and reap a profit while thousands (and potentially millions) of Americans work, earn money, and stimulate our economy! These business' could expand, make the winners even more money and in turn create even more jobs. Just image the endless possibilities as to how quickly Our Economy could begin to turn upward. But if they blow all of it on vacations and self-indulgence... well you get the rest.
Congratulations Winners!! May your new blessing bring you serenity, abundance, and cheer!
Sorry, but I just can't keep quiet anymore. Why have so many people forgotten the word businesses? What is it with the incessant misuse of apostrophes? They're used to show ownership or a contraction. Not to pluralize words.
Uhm, rich people are already making money off the backs of hard working people without doing any work for themselves. It sickens me how these people don't do any work themselves, make a ton of money, and then only pay 15% in taxes.
andrew,
Kind of like it sickens me when baby factories that don't do any work for themselves live off of my tax money and pay 0% in taxes.
Under the bush admin... i almost lost everything in my 401k account. Thank GOD under obama the balance has rebounded
Exactly. The stock market has made strides under the Obama administration. Instead of losing thousands of jobs a week, we are gaining thousands a week. The CONservatives whine and whoop and holler about gas prices. Proof of their short memories when gas was actually higher under the bush.
What sore losers! Wait until there are more elections and you lose more then the eleven teabaggers you lost in this last election. The normal people in this country are sick and tired of your whining and rightwing ways.
I'm happy for these winners. I wish there were lots of one and two million $ winners instead of just two HUGE winners. But CONGRATULATIONS to all of them!
It must be just like when Obama gave us 3 years unemployment checks, free health care for life, food stamps for life, Obama phones, and refinance our mortgage where we pay nothing to hit for a million. Obama has given away many more millions than the lottery. Hail King Obama.
Dee, you should take your meds now. You're clearly delusional.
Actually, Dee, the free phone program was started under Reagan. Only retards call them Obamaphones. Here's the proof, straight from FOX:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/28/viral-video-touting-obama-phone-puts-spotlight-on-16-billion-federal-program/
But I think it's cool you hate him so much. You'll probably have a stroke soon. That's a happy thought. ;-)
She is NOT delusional, NCGrammy ... just wait a couple of years if you don't understand what a $hit storm is coming ... THEN you'll understand .....
Everything NCGrammy is talking about is in the past, if I even understand any of it. Care to explain the storm you speak of?
Andrew, Linnie will check with Rush to get the details on what he thinks and get back to you.
Simply more Chicken Little The sky is falling! The sky is falling! from the minority of Americans who had their a$$ handed to them on November sixth.
Did the economy collapse in January, 2009? Is it possible that your holy bush had our country so trashed that people would've starved had it not been for the social programs that our country has offered for decades?
But let's not put 2 and 2 together. That would make too much sense. Just easier to blame Obama. That way we don't have to put any thought into the real circumstances that lead up to those handouts.
Cool! Glad to hear others won a good amount of money!
Chandler is a union electrician with BP and he's in foreclosure???? This money won't solve the problem of and obvious guy who does not know how to handle money.
All you O-man lovers out there - here's the truth - nothing, nothing comes without a price. So with all those freebies to the lazy, etc. guess who's paying for it and has been paying for it? And it is not the O-man. He's vacationing..............over, and over, and over, and...........
Awwww, eat your heart out, Lexi.
Your bitterness is as sweet as honey!
You must be a Romney lover then. Don't you just love how he paid one of his staffers to go buy $5K worth of canned food and then handed it to people that were coming in so they could "look" like they were donating? I sure want an honest guy like that in the white house. Oh, and i bet you love his plan to drop taxes by 20% and fix the budget.... oh, wait, he never did say how he was going to pay for that. But I can tell you. He was going to lower taxes by 20% for the rich, and raise taxes for the middle class.
My favorite Romney Expenditure was the $25,000 he spent setting up his Victory Fireworks Display. It was to be a spectacular red, white and blue sky fire experience for all to enjoy the very minute his victory was announced.
As I recall, it didn't go down quite that way.
I hate to disappoint you, but your little paycheck isn't going to us. It's just easier to keep repeating that the only people who voted for Obama are those who are on the take. Guess that would mean that Robme won since Obama would've only gotten 47% of the vote.
We need to get those 47% out and find jobs for them. That 90 year old grandmother of yours, that 5 year old of yours, and your handicapped cousin in the wheelchair all need to get out and contribute. Yes, those are the type of people you want to keep bashing. How inhumane of you!
The 47% doesn't include the elderly who are retired or minors. It is the age group 18-65 who used to work, are laid off, on welfare, etc. Shut your ignorant pie hole, Pene and get back in the kitchen where you belong!
I'm happy for each and every one of them. It's more than they had before they played. Dreams can come true.
This whole lotto powerball crap is fixed. The majority of the winners have always been in the mid-west. Sure, this time 1 guy won in Arizona. That's 1 guy. It sure would be nice to see some west coast winners every once in a while.
Hey andrewkc69,stop crying like a little girl,this is why you will never win anything.If thats what you really believe then maybe you should fly out here and get your tickets.Yah,im sure all the back wood country imbreads,that won,are all friends or family members who were in on it to,right.
What instant millionaires? They take out taxes first so you don't get $1 million. All of these are scams. They do it so the government has to give the schools less. If you think that this money is used for extras you are just plain dumb.
"Remember, you're talking to a whole bunch of cops. We're not a whole bunch of people that will be jumping around screaming and yelling. We don't do that,"
Oh yeah I forgot cops are usually all just a bunch of pricks. Enjoy your winnings..
This article is so stupid! They are NOT instant millionaires! Secondly, a million dollars is really a lot of nothing after they pay all the taxes associated with it. All that "throwing up" and jumping up and down will soon stop when they see how much they really don't have! It is NOT that big of a deal!
Then I guess you wouldn't be happy when you took home over $500K? You coudl give it to me then.
I wonder how many children went hungry from their parents spending all the earnings like pigs on lottery tickets, hoping to end up like the stupid pigs who won. This is gambling and unhealthy for society.
Children went hungry from a $2 powerball ticket? "stupid pigs who won"...bitter much? "This is gambling and unhealthy for society." Oh Oh Oh, thank you Leroy, I am still trying to catch my breath and wipe the tears from my eyes but...I really needed that laugh.
What $2? These stupid people spend all they get from SSI on these tickets.
Pretty funny, Obama and the demonrats HATE millionaires, but they love the lotto that makes instant millionaires to they can tax the crap out of you all! and then hate you next year! and you did not even earn it, you just got dumb lucky, but then Dumb is the operative demonrat word. EARNING it is the evil of the progressive. next will be drugs, and then prostitution all for taxes to pay for the gov. employees! your the cancer! and this country needs a cure.
Oh we don't hate millionaires. Only the ones who don't pay their fair share of taxes.
Remember the guy who ran on the GOP ticket and paid 15% in taxes and that was for the year that he showed. How much less did he pay all the other years since he wasn't willing to share that information with us? Heaven knows what would've happened if someone would've asked him for his birth certificate. It's probably as Mexican as his father's was. You know, his father who ran for the presidency several years ago?
I like that. Zillionaire robme pays in 15% and the rest of us pay in 25% plus. Probably sounds fair to people like you.
Check what Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Biden, and Clinton paid. They paid alot less than 25%. And before you assume I am pro republican because I only pointed out the Dem leadership, I bet most of the members of the house and senate also paid less than 25%.
You are kidding yourself if you think ANYONE in DC cares about you, or anyone else but themselves.
A true millionaire is a person that can produce $1M in cash within 48 hours notice without liquidating or borrowing against any of their assets, period. A true millionaire with a sense of humor will produce that sum in the form of rolled quarters. ;-)
Congratulations to all the winners. Wondering how many of them think the rich should pay higher taxes.
I wanted to win both the Powerball and the Florida Lotto - I cannot tell a lie. I am not happy for these people, because I wish it were me. I would do much good with that money. Anyone who won a million dollars and decided to keep building trucks really, really, doesn't deserve to win it.
Now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout. You go girl!