LOS ANGELES (CNS) – A single winning ticket for Monday night’s delayed
Powerball lottery drawing was sold in Altadena, with the jackpot worth a
record-setting $2.04 billion, lottery officials confirmed today.
California Lottery officials said the winning ticket was sold at Joe’s
Service Center on Woodbury Road in Altadena. The ticket matched all six
numbers — 10, 33, 41, 47, 56, and Powerball number 10.
The overall jackpot was $2.04 billion, the largest lottery jackpot in
U.S. history. The single winning ticket will earn a prize of $1.9 billion,
according to the California Lottery.
The holder of the winning ticket will have the option of taking the
money in payments or in a lump sum. The lump sum payment would be $997.6
million.
Three other tickets sold in California matched five numbers in the
drawing but missed the Powerball number. Those tickets — sold in Gardena,
Beaumont and San Francisco — are each worth roughly $1.15 million. A total of
22 such tickets were sold nationally.
But the excitement Tuesday was at Joe’s Service Center, where owner
Joseph Chahayed was swarmed by customers and media after the news broke.
“We are excited,” Chahayed told KTLA5 outside his shop. “We are
happy for California, happy for Los Angeles County and the city of Altadena. We
are happy for the schools. They are going to get some more money. … I love
the community. I’m happy more than anything else for the community.”
Reminded that as the vendor who sold the winning ticket that he will
get a percentage of the jackpot — possibly up to $1 million — Chahayed
quickly said, “I hope so.”
Chahayed’s son, Joe Jr., told the station he “had a feeling last
night it was going to be somebody from our community.”
“And it’s due,” he said. “California and this area has been wanting
and needing something like this to happen, so I’m glad it was somebody from
our area and our community.”
The Powerball drawing had been scheduled for 7:59 p.m. Monday. But the
California Lottery announced at 8:07 p.m. Monday that the planned drawing
was delayed due to a participating lottery needing extra time to complete the
required security protocols. The lottery announced at 9:38 p.m. that there was
another issue in another state.
Neither state involved was California, according to the California Lottery.
“Powerball has strict security requirements that must be met by all
48 lotteries before a drawing can occur,” a California Lottery official said.
The winning numbers were not announced until Tuesday morning.
No tickets had been sold matching all six numbers since Aug. 3.
The odds of matching all five numbers and the Powerball number is 1 in
292.2 million, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association, which
conducts the game.
The Powerball game is played in 45 states, the District of Columbia,
Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands. Copyright 2022, City News Service, Inc.
