California Lottery spokesman Alex Traverso told The Associated Press early Thursday morning that the three previously announced winning tickets in the record $1.6 billion Powerball drawing represent all the grand-prize winners. Meanwhile, a couple went on NBC’s “Today” show to claim they have a winning Powerball ticket that was sold in Munford, Tennessee.
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The couple plan to take the lump sum payout, about $327m (£230m), because they are “not guaranteed tomorrow”.
The real winning tickets were sold in California, Tennessee, and Florida, but the winners have not come forward yet, AP reports.
Beyond appearances, announcing lottery winners may actually help keep the games honest.
Lisa and John Robinson said they were both excited and scared about their Powerball win.
Most of the members said they will use the money to help pay off debt.
Robinson, who works in information technology, said he would take the lump sum.
But wait, a co-worker told her, you may want to look at your ticket because someone bought a winning $1 million ticket at the Wawa store on Urbana Pike in Frederick.
As lottery players searched online to find out who had bought the three winning tickets, they found a slew of hoaxes, including social media accounts from people saying they had won and promising followers a piece of the prize.
“(My wife) told me, she says, ‘You going to pick us up a couple lottery tickets?’ And I told her, I said, ‘I really don’t really feel like picking them up, ‘ but I told her I’d stop at the store”, he said.
“They’re small town people who appreciate community, appreciate family values”.
Working on only several hours of sleep over the past two days, the couple, along with their daughter Tiffany and their dog Abby, appeared energetic at the Friday news conference as they recounted the story of their world-record win.
Any doubts were erased Friday afternoon when the Tennessee lottery tweeted out confirmation that the Robinsons had come to their headquarters to claim the prize.
“Who will be coming out of the woodwork?” said Mary Sue Smith, their neighbor since about 1995. Ricardo also said he wants a new truck and a nice watch.
Mifal Hapayis – the now state-run organization that oversees all legal gambling in Israel – goes so far as to provide masks to lottery winners so they can hide their identities in front of news cameras.
Kathryn told lottery officials: “I still can’t breathe”.
Her husband added, “That’s what we’ve done all our lives, is work”.
Tiffany said she also wants a horse. The family’s attorney stood nearby the them.
John Robinson says he bought the ticket and three others Wednesday night while on the way home.
Meanwhile, at a 7-Eleven in Chino Hills, California, a ticket purchased there matched all six numbers including the Powerball.
He did, four times, then thought: “Well, I’ll believe it when the news comes in on the morning and they say there’s a victor been in Munford”.
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According to NBC, “the chances of winning were 1 in 292.2 million, and there were 635,103,137 total tickets sold”.
