Ticket sales for the multi-state Powerball lottery soared Saturday as people dreamed of winning the largest jackpot in USA history which grew by $100 million to hit $900 million just hours before Saturday night’s drawing.
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According to the Iowa Lottery, one ticket purchased at the Hy-Vee at 3301 Gordon Drive matched five numbers but not the Powerball for $1 million.
Meanwhile, the Association is quietly trying to deal with a multi-state jackpot rigging scandal that has forced the man who has run the Powerball game for 28 years to be placed on indefinite administrative leave. In order to win the jackpot, all six numbers must be correct.
The $1 million ticket was bought at Convenience on the Go, 1441 Holland Road in Suffolk. The jackpot, which rises after each drawing that does not produce a victor, has now ballooned to $1.3 billion.
Powerball’s grand prize has increased steadily for weeks after repeated drawings produced no big winners.
The world’s richest lottery is Spain’s annual Christmas “El Gordo”, which in 2015 handed out 2.2 billion euros ($2.4 billion) but which capped individual wins at 400,000 euros and handed out thousands of smaller prizes.
The Powerball jackpot is growing! Since then ticket sales have only taken off.
The record jackpot lured an unprecedented frenzy of purchases.
The bigest winning jackpot ever was in 2012 – a MegaMillions game that was worth $656 million.
“A lottery official called us at seven in the morning to tell us”, manager Sarbjit Singh told the Daily News.
Elias admitted to buying a ticket for himself, something he said he had never done before. “For New Jersey, it will also be remembered as the impetus to provide vital funding to our Lottery beneficiaries”, said Carole Hedinger, New Jersey Lottery executive director said.
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California is one of 44 states, plus Washington D.C. and two US territories, that participate in Powerball.
