• Clock is ticking for holder of $590 million Powerball ticket

    A Publix grocery store in Zephyrhills, Fla., sold a Powerball ticket worth $590.5 million, the second-largest lottery jackpot in history, to one lucky winner. NBC's Kerry Sanders reports.

    By Erin McClam, Staff Writer, NBC News

    The clock is ticking for the luckiest person in America.

    Whoever bought the winning $590 million Powerball ticket at a Publix supermarket in Florida has two months to come forward, a shorter window than in some other states.

    But on Monday, the winner’s identity remained a mystery — and the subject of a guessing game that everybody was playing in Zephyrhills, a city of about 13,000 outside Tampa that is better known for its national brand of bottled water.


    “I’m getting text messages and messages from Facebook going, ‘Uh, did you win the lottery?’” Sandra Lewis told The Associated Press. “No, I didn’t win, guys. Sorry.”

    We know this much: Whoever bought the ticket beat odds of about 175 million to 1 to choose the winning numbers drawn Saturday night — 10, 13, 14, 22 and 52, with a Powerball of 11.

    If it’s a single winner — not one ticket held by a pool at the office or among friends — that person will apparently claim the largest jackpot awarded to one person in American history: $370 million if he or she takes a lump-sum payment.

    The largest jackpot was a $656 million prize last year in another multi-state drawing, Mega Millions, but that prize was split among three winners in Maryland, Kansas and Illinois.

    In some other states, even for the same national Powerball jackpot, the winner would have a year to come forward. In Iowa in 2011, a winner waited 364 days and 22 hours to claim a $14 million state jackpot.

    And Florida has no state income tax, so if the winner lives there — and wasn’t just in town for Zephyrhills’ popular skydiving tours — he or she will save millions more.

    Lottery officials in Florida did not seem surprised that no one had claimed the prize in the first two days.

    “It never happens this quickly,” said David Bishop, a Florida lottery spokesman. “If they know they won, they’re going to contact their attorney or an accountant first so they can get their affairs in order.”

    Meanwhile, the jackpot would be enough to fund the city of Zephyrills for 12 years, based on their current budget — but the $148 million in estimated federal income taxes is only enough to power the U.S. government for about a half-hour.

    The ticket is also good for an $85,000 bonus commission for the Publix supermarket. For thousands of other people, though, it’s good for nothing.

    “I wish it was me,” Cindy Frappier said as she walked out of the Publix on Sunday. “But it wasn’t.”

    The Associated Press contributed to this story.

    This story was originally published on Mon May 20, 2013 9:00 AM EDT

  • Winning ticket for huge Powerball jackpot sold in Florida

    NBC News

    The Publix in Zephyrhills, Florida, where the winning ticket was sold.

    By Becky Bratu, Staff Writer, NBC News

    Do you have the lucky ticket? A winner for the huge Powerball jackpot was sold at a supermarket in Zephyrhills, Fla., a Florida Lottery official confirmed to NBC News early Sunday.


    The winning Powerball numbers drawn late Saturday were 10, 13, 14, 22, 52 with Powerball number 11.

    Powerball's website said one winner was sold in Florida, and David Bishop of the Florida Lottery confirmed that it was sold at a Publix supermarket in Zephyrhills, a suburb of Tampa.

    The jackpot of the 43-state lottery game surged ahead of the drawing and had been estimated at $600 million -- the second-largest pot in U.S. lottery history. Powerball officials later revised that to more than $590 million.

    Still, that grand prize, accumulated after two months of drawings, surpassed the previous record Powerball payoff of $587.5 million, set in November 2012. That was split by two winners.

    The largest jackpot in U.S. history stands at $656 million, won in the Mega Millions lottery of March 2012. That prize was split between winners in Maryland, Kansas and Illinois.

    The store where the winning ticket was sold will receive an $85,000 bonus commission, according to Shelly Gerteisen, a spokeswoman for the Florida Lottery.

    Who has the lucky ticket? The winning ticket for the $590 million Powerball jackpot was sold at a supermarket in Zephyrhills, Fla., just south of Tampa. NBC's Kerry Sanders reports.

    The chances of winning the big prize were low — 1 in 175.2 million — but it didn't stop hopeful Americans across the country from purchasing about 80 percent of all possible combinations, according to lottery officials.

    In addition to the big prize at stake Saturday, tickets worth $2 million were sold in New York and South Carolina. In California, which joined the Powerball lottery in April and figures winnings by pari-mutuel, two tickets each worth $2.3 million were sold, according to the California State Lottery website.

    The estimated cash value of Saturday's drawing, if it had hit $600 million and the winner chose to be paid in one lump sum, would have been roughly $377 million -- before taxes, of course.

    Tiffany Satchell told NBCMiami.com that she knows exactly what she'd do if she won.

    "Pay off all my bills," she said. "I really want a Range Rover."

    NBC News' Hasani Gittens, Justin Kirschner and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

    Saturday night, someone who felt lucky may turn out to be the luckiest person in the world as they pick the numbers for the Powerball jackpot, now at $600 million. NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.

    This story was originally published on Sun May 19, 2013 10:28 AM EDT

  • Powerball jackpot soars to $600 million

    Saturday night, someone who felt lucky may turn out to be the luckiest person in the world as they pick the numbers for the Powerball jackpot, now at $600 million. NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.

    If you have two bucks and a dream, Powerball has a game for you.

    The jackpot of the multi-state lottery game has surged to $600 million ahead of Saturday's drawing -- the second-largest pot in U.S. lottery history.

    In the drawing in the 43-state game at 10:59 p.m. ET Saturday, the winning numbers were 10, 13, 14, 22, 52 and Powerball 11.

    The estimated jackpot surpasses Powerball's previous record set in November 2012, when the jackpot jumped to $587.5 million before two winners split the prize.

    The largest jackpot ever claimed was a $656 million Mega Millions prize split three ways in March. 

    The estimated cash value of Saturday's drawing, should a winner choose to be paid in one lump sum, now stands at $376.9 million -- before taxes, of course.

    Erik S. Lesser / EPA

    A customer purchases Powerball and Mega Millions lottery tickets at a store in Decatur, Ga. The combined jackpots of the games are estimated at $800 million.

     

     

  • Powerball jackpot balloons to $360 million

    Chris O'meara / AP, file

    This Nov. 28, 2012, file photo shows a customer at a 7-Eleven convenience store with a Powerball ticket in Tampa, Fla.

    By Matthew DeLuca, Staff Writer, NBC News

    A lucky winner could take home one of Powerball's largest jackpots on Wednesday night as the prize rose to an estimated $360 million dollars.

    That makes it the third largest Powerball jackpot in at least a decade. Lottery officials have said that such stratospheric payouts will become more common as a result of a redesign last year. Those changes were intended to produce bigger jackpots faster, and raised the price of a ticket to $2.

    “It usually took a handful of months, if not several months, for a jackpot to reach this large amount,” Iowa Lottery spokeswoman Mary Neubauer told the Associated Press. “Now it’s achieving that within a handful of weeks. I think the redesign is achieving exactly what we had wanted it to achieve, which is the bigger, faster-growing jackpot.”

    Powerball tickets are sold in 43 states. The biggest Powerball jackpot ever totaled $587.5 million and was split between two tickets on Nov. 28. New Jersey resident Pedro Quezada won the fourth largest Powerball prize ever in March, taking home a $338 million jackpot.

    While odds of getting rich quick remain slim, more players are likely to take home a smaller prize by matching fewer numbers. And for those who miss tonight's jackpot can take consolation: the Mega Millions jackpot rolled over to $190 million Tuesday night. The next drawing of that game comes Friday.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    Related:

  • Nobody wins: Powerball jackpot jumps to $350 million

    By Gil Aegerter, Staff Writer, NBC News

    The Powerball lottery jackpot swelled to $350 million after no ticket matched all the winning numbers picked on Saturday night.

    That would make it the third-largest Powerball prize ever.


    The winning numbers were 6-13-19-23-43 with Powerball 16.

    The jackpot had hit $270 million before Saturday night's drawing with a cash value if taken as a lump sum ofs $175.8 million, according to Powerball. Winners also have the option of taking the money as a 29-year annuity.

    There’s a one in 175.2 million chance of anyone winning the grand prize, according to Powerball. Tickets cost $2.

    The last big winner in the Powerball was on March 30, when a $50 million prize was won. But earlier that month a single ticket produced a $338 million winner, at the time the fourth biggest Powerball prize ever.

    The biggest Powerball jackpot ever was won on Nov. 28 -- $587.5 million split by two tickets. But the largest U.S. lottery prize ever won was $656 million in the Mega Millions drawing on March 30, 2012, split among three tickets.

    Related stories:

     

     

  • Hair stylists fight in court over $9.5 million lotto jackpot

    By Jeff Black, Staff Writer, NBC News

    Seven hair dressers from Indianapolis have taken a coworker to court claiming she cheated them out of their share of a $9.5 million Hoosier Lotto jackpot.


    For her part, the woman claims it was her ticket that won, not an office pool ticket, so she wants to keep all of the winnings.

    Marion County Superior Court Judge Heather A. Welch heard testimony on Wednesday and said she would rule on the case by the end of the week, the Indianapolis Star reported.

    According to NBC station WTHR-TV, eight stylists who work at a local salon pooled their money to buy lottery tickets for the Feb. 16 drawing.

    One of the women, identified by the Indianapolis star as Christina Shaw, was sent out to buy the tickets at a local gas station, but also apparently bought tickets for herself.

    Shaw then discovered she'd won, but before making the trek to the Hoosier Lottery headquarters to claim her jackpot, stopped by the hair salon to inform her fellow stylists that her ticket had won, not theirs.

    The coworkers called attorney Scott Montross who filed a restraining order to freeze the money. The court action, Montross said, was not against Shaw herself but only to keep the jackpot from being paid out.

    “We are concerned that the winning ticket may have been purchased with the group’s money," Montross earlier told the Star. "There’s a dispute about it, but until there is something more definitive, we were trying to keep a low profile. But we needed to slow the train down."

    Montross, the Star reported, said the coworkers at Lou’s Creative Styles routinely each contributed $5 each for lottery tickets, and that they agreed that whoever bought the tickets for the group couldn’t buy tickets for themselves in the same place.

    Shaw did not comment on the case, though she did indicate to the Star that she had hired an attorney.

    A Marion County judge decided to place a hold on the winnings, which after hearing from both sides on Wednesday, she extended until Friday.

    According to the Star, the coworkers filing the case were identified as: Lucy Lewis-Johnston, Melanie Ann Bonar; Margie Day-Braugh; Judith Kay Pallatin; Patricia L. Pohlman; Linda Sue Stewart; and Edna M. Thomas.

    A voice message left for Montross by NBC News wasn’t immediately returned.

  • Powerball winners introduced to the nation: 'We're still stunned by what happened'

    One 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.

    By Elizabeth Chuck, Staff Writer, NBC News

    A six-year-old girl may get the pony she has dreamed of owning, thanks to the record Powerball jackpot her family just won.


    The Hill family of Dearborn, Mo., who won half of the jackpot worth $587.5 million, appeared at a press conference on Friday with six-year-old Jaiden, who was adopted from China, clutching a stuffed horse as her parents were handed an oversized check made out for their share: $293,750,000.

    "We’re still stunned by what’s happened. It's surreal and people keep asking us, 'What are you going to buy with it?' I just want to go home and be back to normal," Cindy Hill, 51, said at the press conference in which she, her husband Mark, their three adult sons and daughter Jaiden were introduced to the nation. 

    Since winning, the couple has considered adopting again, according to the lottery. Mark has spoken of getting a red Camaro; they also would like to take Jaiden to the beach, since she's never been to one. And they plan to start college funds for their grandchildren and nieces and nephews, as well as set up a scholarship fund at the local high school in Mark's father's name.

    They are also looking forward to not working and traveling together as a family using their winnings, Hill added.

    As for the pony, it will be coming -- but later.

    "The pony’s not going to be for a while," Cindy said Friday. "I think we’re going to just stick with what we have planned, and maybe after the first year, go on a big vacation.” 

    Cindy Hill,  the matriarch of the Missouri family who half the record $580 million Powerball jackpot, and her children talk about their new life as millionaires.

    After hearing on Thursday morning that one of the winning tickets was sold in Missouri -- the other was sold in Arizona -- Cindy dropped her Jaiden off at school, went to a convenience store for a winning numbers report, and checked her tickets in her car.

    "I didn't have my glasses, and I was thinking, is that the right number? Is that the right number?" Cindy said.

    Upon seeing that one of the five tickets she bought had the winning combination, Cindy said she headed straight to her mother-in-law's house and asked her to double-check the ticket. Husband Mark, 52,  joined her there to see for himself.

    With the odds of any single ticket winning the jackpot at 1 in 175 million, the Hills said they hardly gave a thought to winning. They spent $10 on tickets Wednesday evening and didn't check them again until Cindy saw they had won Thursday morning.

    Cindy was an office manager until she was laid off in 2010; Mark works as a mechanic for Hillshire Brands, according to the Missouri Lottery.

    They don't play the lottery often, and don't have any plans to move from Dearborn, a Kansas City suburb.

    The couple traveled to Jefferson City, Mo., to meet with lottery officials after discovering they had won. When packing for the trip, Mark, still in shock over the magnitude of their win, said he stopped to buy toothpaste for his travel bag, and said, "I found myself in the store still looking at the prices."

    "Old habits are hard to break," he said, adding, "We don't have the money yet!"

    Dave Kaup / Reuters

    Cindy Hill holds the microphone to six-year old daughter Jaiden, held by husband Mark as sons Jason and Cody, right, look on during a news conference on Friday.

    David Troutman, a former high school classmate of the winning couple, said on TODAY that they first posted the news on Facebook.

    "I was on Facebook and I saw that his wife had posted, ‘Thank you God, we won the lottery.’ Of course everybody in town, all his friends, gave all thumbs up. It couldn’t have happened to a better guy,’’ Troutman said.

    The Hills are high school sweethearts. In the tiny town of Dearborn -- population, 496 -- their identity didn't stay secret for long. 

    “Word spread that he won so fast,’’ Troutman said. “I heard that it was a winner from Dearborn, and by the time I walked in the door my mom was on the phone, and she said, ‘He won. It was him.’ Who knows what the impact will be on Dearborn.’’

    Jason, one of Cindy and Mark's sons, said Friday, "I hope we stay grounded. I hope we stay the same great people we were yesterday and the day before."

    Dozens of others become instant millionaires too

    Dearborn is about 35 miles north of Kansas City, the home of the Royals baseball team. While some speculated that the winning numbers -- 5, 23, 16, 22, 29 and Powerball 6 -- were based on Kansas City Royal greats' jersey numbers, the Hills said on Friday that they had done the computerized random quick-pick.

    All but five states -- Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, North Dakota and Ohio -- require the lottery to release the winning names to anyone who asks, according to the Powerball site.  

    No one has come forward yet to claim the winning ticket in Arizona, but on Thursday, a mystery man showed up at a gas station in Upper Marlboro, Md., claiming to hold the big winner.

    Surveillance video showed a man in a yellow construction suit slowly amble up to the counter, where he pulled out some lottery tickets. After confirming that the numbers on one of the tickets matched, he can be seen in the video repeatedly pumping his fists. It’s unclear what the man was doing in Maryland with a ticket ostensibly from Arizona.

    NBC's Kerry Sanders reports from Dearborn, Mo., where the town is celebrating one family's luck of winning half the record Powerball jackpot. A family friend of the couple, expected to be named by lottery officials Friday, tells TODAY's Savannah Guthrie "it couldn't have happened to a better guy."

  • Missouri, Arizona announce locations of winning Powerball tickets

    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.

    By Elizabeth Chuck and Vignesh Ramachandran, NBC News

    Updated at 7:50 p.m. ET: The search for the two big winners of Wednesday night’s Powerball drawing is narrowing.

    Missouri lottery officials announced Thursday that one of the Powerball tickets worth $293.7 million was sold at a Trex Mart in Dearborn, Mo. And Arizona officials said the other winning ticket in the $587.5 million jackpot was sold at the 4 Sons Food Store in Fountain Hills, Ariz.

    Missouri lottery officials said they will announce the state's winner at a press conference Friday. Officials have not yet identified the Arizona winner.


    The Arizona store that sold the ticket will receive a $25,000 bonus incentive, while the Missouri store will get $50,000.

    Lottery officials have not said whether the winning numbers of Wednesday night's record drawing -- 05 - 16 - 22 - 23 - 29 and Powerball 06 -- were picked by individuals or groups.

    "It is so exciting to sell one of these Powerball tickets," Missouri Lottery executive director May Scheve Reardon said in a press release Thursday.  "In addition, we sold two tickets that matched all five white balls, which means they each win $1 million. Three millionaires in one night is a wonderful night!"

    Reardon advised all winners to be sure to sign the back of their tickets and seek legal and financial advice. Missouri winners have 180 days to claim their prize.

    NBC's Kerry Sanders has more on the record jackpot and looks at how the winner may have chosen their numbers.

    In addition to the jackpot winners, Powerball officials said eight people won $2 million prizes and 58 other ticket holders won $1 million.

    The jackpot had rolled over 16 consecutive times without a winner since Oct. 6, prompting Americans to go on a ticket-buying spree in the run-up to the drawing. At one point, tickets were selling at a rate of 130,000 a minute nationwide — about six times the volume from a week ago.

    The Missouri and Arizona jackpot winners will share an estimated $385 million before taxes if they take the prize as a lump sum, or the $587.5 million can be paid out as annuities over three decades, the Multi-State Lottery Association told Reuters.

    As lottery official Sue Dooley notes, tickets matching all five of the white balls in the record $580 million Powerball drawing, can be cashed in for $1 million in prize money.

    Although this Powerball jackpot was a big one, it's not the largest lottery prize ever. That mark is held by the $656 million Mega Millions jackpot that was split by three ticket buyers earlier this year. The previous biggest Powerball prize was $365 million in 2006, shared by several ConAgra Foods workers in Lincoln, Neb.

    Advice for the lucky people who won the huge Powerball jackpot
    11 things more likely to happen than winning the Powerball jackpot

    Powerball is played across 42 states, plus Washington, D.C., and the Virgin Islands. All but five states -- Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, North Dakota and Ohio -- require the lottery to release the winning names to anyone who asks, according to the Powerball site.

    The next Powerball drawing has been reset back to $40 million.

    The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

    The record $580 million Powerball jackpot will be split by the owners of tickets sold in Missouri and Arizona, according to lottery officials. NBC's Stephanie Gosk reports.

     

  • 11 things more likely to happen than winning the Powerball jackpot

    By Becky Bratu, Staff Writer, NBC News

    Even though you know the odds of winning the Powerball jackpot aren't good, you probably bought a ticket (or a few dozen of them) anyway.


    But just how bad are the odds of any single ticket winning the big prize? 1 in 175,223,510, to be precise -- less than the odds of someone becoming president of the United States or being born with an extra finger or toe.

    Here are 11 things -- some good, some not so good -- more likely to happen than your numbers coming up gold:

    1. The next time you rush across the street as the light is about to change, keep in mind it's much likelier you'll die as a pedestrian than win the jackpot: 1 in 701, according to the National Safety Council. 

    Julio Cortez / AP

    A U.S. flag waves in the wind as pedestrians cross the street in Newark, N.J.

    2. Think your perfect 3-point shot makes you a shoo-in for the Dallas Mavericks? The odds of being drafted to play in the NBA after college if you're a high school senior basketball player are a slim 1 in 6,864,000, according to The Sport Digest, still better than Powerball odds.

    Charles Rex Arbogast / AP

    Harrison Barnes, left, from North Carolina, talks with reporters during a gathering of top prospects for the NBA basketball pre-draft combine earlier this year in Chicago.

     

    3. Afraid to fly? Then skip to the next bullet point, because the odds of dying in air and space transport incidents are 1 in 7,178.

    Kirsty Wigglesworth / AP

    A British airways plane flies over residential rooftops as it comes in to land at Heathrow Airport in London.

    4. If you haven't yet bought a ticket because you thought the odds of you winning the prize are as slim as the chances of dating Brad Pitt -- not so fast. According to the Book of Odds, the odds of being a movie star are 1 in 1,505,000. Reeling one in... that one's up to you, but becoming a movie star first can't hurt. 

    Matt Sayles / AP

    Actress Anne Hathaway arrives before the 83rd Academy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 27, 2011, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles.

    5. It's (frighteningly much) likelier you'll die getting struck by lightning than win the Powerball jackpot: 1 in 134,906, according to the National Safety Council.  

    Andy Tullis / AP file

    In a June 28, 2011 photo, a blast of lightning bolts shoot down towards Bend Ore. during a storm.

    6. The next time you're having a picnic in the great outdoors, watch out for buzzing insects, because the odds of dying from a hornet, wasp or bee sting are 1 in 79,842, according to the National Safety Council. 

    Pat Wellenbach / AP file

    Bees come and go from a bee hive in West Bath, Maine on Monday, April 30, 2012.

    7. If you gasped upon seeing Honey Boo Boo's niece's duplicate thumb on national television, you'll probably be even more surprised to find out that polydactyly is not a rare condition. The odds of being born with extra fingers or toes are 1 in 500.

    China Daily via Reuters file

    An x-ray picture shows the hands of a six-year-old boy who has 15 fingers (the small nub on one of the fingers is the 15th) and 16 toes at a hospital in Shenyang, Liaoning.


    8. Your odds of becoming a U.S. president are 1 in 10 million, according to this article. Mitt Romney obviously found those odds attractive enough.

    Jewel Samad / AFP - Getty Images file

    President Barack Obama celebrates after delivering his acceptance speech ion Chicago on November 7, 2012.

    9. There's a 1 in 11.5 million chance you'll get attacked by a shark, according to the U.S. Lifesaving Association, but there's no word on how the odds play out during Shark Week.

    Michael Fernandez / AP

    This July 2011 photo shows a shark warning sign along the Surf Beach near Lompoc, Calif. in Santa Barbara County.

    10. One in 12,500 amateur golfers will make a hole in one on a par 3 hole.

    Stuart Franklin / Getty Images file

    Tom Watson of the United States celebrates after his hole in one at the sixth hole during the second round of The 140th Open Championship at Royal St George's on July 15, 2011 in Sandwich, England.

    11. Before you get too discouraged, keep in mind that the odds of winning at least some kind of Powerball prize -- any prize, even $4 -- are not too shabby: 1 in 31.85. But you still might be better off working on your jump shot. At least that will get you some exercise.

    Erik S. Lesser / EPA

    Jimmie Callahan of Pell City, Alabama, uses the lucky numbers from a Chinese restaurant fortune cookie to play the Powerball multi-state lottery at a retailer near the Alabama state line in Tallapoosa, Georgia.

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  • Two winning tickets sold in Powerball jackpot - one in Arizona, one in Missouri

    The record $580 million Powerball jackpot will be split by the owners of tickets sold in Missouri and Arizona, according to lottery officials. NBC's Stephanie Gosk reports.

    By NBC News staff and wire services

    Updated at 8:22 a.m. ET: The winning numbers to the largest Powerball drawing in history: 05 - 16 - 22 - 23 - 29 and Powerball 06.

    Lottery officials confirmed early Thursday that there are two winning tickets -- one sold in Arizona, the other in Missouri.

    The winners will split a $579.9 million jackpot, which went up nearly $30 million before Wednesday night's drawing. The jackpot jumped up from half a billion dollars on Wednesday, according to Powerball officials. The new jackpot carries a cash value of $379.8 million before taxes.

    Arizona lottery officials said early Thursday morning they would announce where that state's ticket was sold during a news conference later in the day.

    Advice for the lucky so-and-so who won the huge Powerball jackpot

    The jackpot had rolled over 16 consecutive times without a winner, prompting Americans to go on a ticket-buying spree in the run-up to the drawing. At one point, tickets were selling at a rate of 130,000 a minute nationwide — about six times the volume from a week ago.

    In addition, Powerball officials said that eight people won $2 million prizes and 58 other ticketholders won $1 million.

    As lottery official Sue Dooley notes, tickets matching all five of the white balls in the record $580 million Powerball drawing, can be cashed in for $1 million in prize money.

    Although this Powerball jackpot is a big one, it's not the largest lottery prize ever. That mark is held by the $656 million Mega Millions jackpot that was split by three ticket buyers earlier this year. The previous biggest Powerball prize was $365 million in 2006, shared by several ConAgra Foods workers in Lincoln, Neb. 

    Powerball is played across 42 states, plus Washington, D.C., and the Virgin Islands.

    As for the winner or winners: All but five states -- Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, North Dakota and Ohio -- require the lottery to release the winning names to anyone who asks, according to the Powerball site.  

    11 things more likely to happen than winning the Powerball jackpot

    There were no Powerball winners for Saturday's drawing, in which $325 million was up for grabs. The winning numbers Saturday were 22-32-37-44-50 with Powerball 34, according to the Powerball lottery's website. There were 10 winners of $1 million and one winner of $2 million.

    Scott Olson / Getty Images

    A sign outside the One Stop Mart in Chicago shows the winning amounts for lottery games including the $550 million for the Powerball jackpot on Wednesday. The jackpot later increased by another $30 million. A single Powerball winner would get a lump sum payment of about $379.8 million before taxes.

    The huge jackpot has brought a flood of ticket sales. "It’s been crazy," the manager of a 7-Eleven convenience store in Westminster, Colo., that sold 2,000 tickets in 11 hours on Tuesday, told Reuters.

    Clock ticks on $100 million lottery prize in UK


    Ticket buyers are not only dreaming of living large, but already brewing ways in which they might quit their job.

    "I was thinking maybe I should hire a marching band to help me (quit)," Joe Cooke of Illinois told Reuters, after buying $50 in Powerball tickets Wednesday morning.

    Powerball millions will buy you a lot of ... misery

    Cooke, 29, fields customer service calls for a financial institution, which he describes as listening to "rich, mean people" complaining all day, Reuters reported.

    At a downtown Detroit convenience store, Ceejay Johnson purchased five Powerball tickets. If she strikes it rich, the analyst from Southfield, Mich., said she would buy a home for her sister in Florida. Then she would "go into hiding" and take care of her family.

    "And the IRS," she added.

    The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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  • Powerball jackpot to hit at least $500 million on Wednesday

    Wednesday's drawing is making headlines as millions buy tickets in hope of winning the giant jackpot. NBC's Brian Williams reports.

    By NBC News staff

    The Powerball jackpot is set to increase to about $500 million for the next drawing, the largest jackpot ever for the game.


    The top prize will be up for grabs Wednesday after there was no winner in Saturday's drawing. The unlucky numbers were 22-32-37-44-50, and the Powerball was 34.

    According to The Associated Press, Powerball officials said huge ticket sales nationally pushed the payout higher. A single winner choosing the cash payout will take home $327 million before taxes.

    Record jackpots encourage players who usually sit on the sidelines to play and group purchases from work pools increase.

    The jackpot is the largest ever for the Powerball game and the second largest lottery jackpot of all time, eclipsed only by the $656 million Mega Millions record set in March.

    Iowa Lottery spokeswoman Mary Neubauer said the jackpot could go even higher than the estimated $425 million because sales tend to increase in the days before record drawings. Tickets have to be purchased by 8:59 p.m. Wednesday to enter the drawing.

    The previous top Powerball prize was $365 million, The AP said, which was won in 2006 by ConAgra Foods Workers in Lincoln, Neb. The Powerball lottery is played in 42 states, Washington D.C. and the US Virgin Islands.

    The MegaMillions lottery holds the record for the biggest payout in U.S. history. In June, the prize hit $640 million and the winnings were shared among three ticket holders.

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  • California lottery officials hunt for mystery winner

    View more videos at: http://nbcbayarea.com.

    California Lottery

    Footage from a convenience store surveillance video shows a man lottery officials believe bought a winning ticket worth $52 million in late July.

    By Andrew Mach, Staff Writer, NBC News

    California Lottery officials are on the lookout for a man they believe is the state’s latest millionaire.



    Follow @andrewjmach

    The organization released a surveillance video and a photo of a man they believe bought a winning ticket at a Fremont, Calif., Kwik Stop worth $52 million.

    Lottery officials say they believe the man knows he’s the winner because he’s physically checked his ticket multiple times at grocery stores, officials said.

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    But more than a month after the drawing July 27, he has yet to come forward and claim his prize, which is why the organization put out the photo and a plea asking the mystery man to bring his winning ticket to a lottery office.

    “We see this as an integrity and transparency issue,” said Russ Lopez, California Lottery Deputy Director of Corporate Communications, in a statement. “The California Lottery truly believes that when a person buys a lottery ticket with the hope and prayer of changing their lives, we should do all we can to connect them with their winnings. We believe this effort will make a lot of Californians very happy.”

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    In the surveillance video from the Kwik Stop, lottery officials say the man is clearly recognizable and the cashier of the convenience store, A.J. Kumar, told NBCBayArea.com that he’s waited on the mystery winner many times, including on July 25, when he sold the winning ticket.

    The winner has up to one year to come forward.

    More than $20.5 million in prizes went unclaimed in California over the last two years, lottery officials said. In an effort to connect ticket holders to their winnings, the California Lottery has begun sending out photos of apparent winners of unclaimed prizes. 

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