Someone who bought a Powerball ticket in Southern California won a record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot after more than three months without anyone winning the top prize. The winning numbers were drawn on Tuesday morning, nearly 10 hours after the scheduled drawing on Monday night, due to problems processing sales data in one of the game’s member lotteries. Lottery officials acknowledged the unprecedented delay for such a high-profile draw, but said the game’s security process took priority. “Protecting the integrity of the lottery is of the utmost importance, and we were able to do so during this historic drawing with the cooperation of all participating lotteries,” said Drew Svitko, the president of the Powerball Product Group and executive director of the Pennsylvania Lottery. . On Tuesday afternoon, the Minnesota Lottery acknowledged that its sales verification system caused the long delay. The winning numbers drawn Tuesday morning at the Florida Lottery drawing studio in Tallahassee were: white balls 10, 33, 41, 47 and 56 and the red Powerball was 10. The jackpot ticket was sold at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, an unincorporated community in the foothills northeast of Los Angeles. For selling the winning ticket, business owner Joe Chahayed will receive a maximum Powerball bonus of $1 million. “I am very surprised. Very excited. Very happy,” said Chahayed, who wore a bright yellow California Lottery shirt and hat. Chahayed said he didn’t know who won the giant prize, but hoped it was someone local. “I wish I knew the person, but most people who buy tickets from me are from the neighborhood. I hope one of them will be the winner,” he said. Chahayed said he will spend the $1 million on his five children and donate some to the community. Under California rules, the winner’s name must be disclosed, but no other information, including the winner’s address, must be released. Thomas Murrell said he had stopped by Joe’s Tuesday morning to buy gas and $200 worth of Powerball tickets in case no one had won the giant jackpot. “I know Joe. I’ve known him for years and I talk to him all the time,” Murrell said. “Joe has always been a lucky guy. He’s a good guy. I’m not surprised it happened here.” The $2.04 billion jackpot was by far the largest lottery prize ever won, surpassing the previous record prize of $1.586 billion won by three Powerball ticket holders in 2016. Only four previous jackpots have exceeded $1 billion, but none of them are close to the current prize pool, which started at $20 million back on August 6 and has grown to three months without a win. No one has won the jackpot since August 3rd. The jackpot was initially reported at $1.9 billion on Monday, but the prize increased to $2.04 billion on Tuesday morning after updated calculations. The Multi-State Lottery Association said the scheduled drawing was delayed from 10:59 p.m. EST Monday to 8:57 a.m. EST. on Tuesday because a participating lottery was unable to process its sales data. After Minnesota completed its pre-draft procedures, the draft was able to proceed. Marie Hinton, a spokeswoman for the Minnesota Lottery, said the lottery is reviewing what happened and hopes to report its findings by Wednesday. Terry Rich, a former Iowa Lottery director who also served on the Powerball board, said the delay is likely due to a two-party verification system of ticket sales that uses an outside vendor to make sure everything is in order before the game. numbers are drawn. “Each state must verify through a two-pronged process that all sales and dollars match before the Multistate Lottery Association can draw,” said Rich, who headed the Iowa Lottery for 10 years and was president of North American Lottery Association. . “It’s a state-by-state process that separates the whole process and it’s been very effective.” Rich said state lotteries experience similar problems several times a year, but the delays usually don’t attract much attention because the potential jackpots are much smaller than what was available this week. The winning numbers and drawing video were posted on the Powerball YouTube channel. The $2.04 billion prize is for a winner who chooses an annuity, which is paid annually for 29 years. Almost all winners opt for the cash instead, which was estimated at $997.6 million. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million. The game is played in 45 states, as well as Washington, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. —— McFetridge reported from Des Moines, Iowa.
