The Powerball numbers that came up in Saturday night’s drawing produced no jackpot winner this time, just three days after a $148.8 million jackpot went to one Powerball player in Florida.
But Saturday’s numbers did create two new millionaires , one in New Jersey and one in New York state, as those two tickets matched the first five Powerball numbers, but not the Powerball number itself. No one who selected the Power Play option matched those first five numbers, which would have paid $3 million, because Saturday’s Power Play multiplier was “3.”
Down in Collier County, Florida, in the Golden Gates Estates community, residents are waiting for the person who bought a ticket worth $148.8 million to step into the public spotlight. So far the big winner from Wednesday’s Powerball game has remained incognito and has not taken steps to collect the life-altering prize.
But the employees behind the counter at E’s Country Store on Immokalee Road say they have a pretty good hunch as to who the Powerball winner might be. The man returned to the store Thursday morning to check his ticket against the winning numbers.
The employees say the man is a regular customer, but one who rarely buys anything other than lottery tickets. But he enjoys chatting with the cashiers at the tiny convenience store, mainly talking about his son, and about his motorcycle.
In Florida, winners must travel to Tallahassee, the state capital — which is also where the twice-weekly Powerball drawings are held — to collect their winnings, for prizes over $1 million. That’s about a 7 1/2 hour drive from Collier County in the southern part of the state — but if the winner is who the employees think he is, that’s sure to be the shortest 7 1/2 hour drive he’ll ever make.
Saturday’s drawing, though no one won the $40 million jackpot, still saw 412,752 winning tickets, of the 13,008,494 sold — the lowest Powerball sales total since January 2, 2013.
Was yours one of the winners? Check your Powerball numbers against these numbers drawn at 10:59 pm.
3 — 7 — 22 — 30 — 33 Powerball 20
Wednesday’s Powerball jackpot will top out $50 million, or $29.3 million for a winner who wants the money all in one payment.