Mega Millions, Powerball Jackpots Return To Normal After Big Winners Named

After offering two of the largest lottery jackpots in history within a week of each other, the nationwide Mega Millions and Powerball games returned to “normal” this week.

On Saturday, two tickets, one in Iowa and one in New York, shared the Powerball winning jackpot of $687.8 million with a cash payout of $396.2 million. The total represented the third largest prize in Powerball’s history. The winning numbers were 8-12-13-19-27 with the Powerball number 4.

“Even we are awestruck,” Iowa Lottery chief executive Terry Rich said Sunday about the win. “This goes to show what we’ve said many times: You never know when the next big winner will hit. We’re conducting the standard security checks for the ticket involved, but this is definitely a very exciting time in Iowa for lottery players. And if there was ever a time to double-check your lottery tickets, this is it,” Rich continued.

The winning ticket in Iowa was purchased at Casey’s convenience story in Redfield. The winning ticket in New York was purchased at the West Harlem Deli in New York City, state lottery officials there told the New York Post.

Carlos Diaz, the manager of the deli, told the Post that the winner was likely a regular customer of the establishment. “We always have the same customers,” Diaz told the tabloid. “We don’t really get new traffic.” Diaz said that the Harlem community is buzzing with the lottery news. “I’m happy for the community, for the guy who won,” Diaz said, per the Post. “For the store too because you know, it put you on the spot. In the spotlight.”

On Tuesday, the Mega Millions jackpot was won by a single lucky ticket holder in South Carolina. The jackpot was worth $1.537 billion, with a cash payout of $878 million. The winning numbers in that game were 5, 28, 62, 65 and 70, plus the Mega Ball 5.

The total was shy of the all-time record $1.586 billion Powerball prize in January 2016, which was split between three winning tickets.

“The moment we’ve been waiting for finally arrived, and we couldn’t be more excited,” Gordon Medenica, lead director of the Mega Millions Group and director of Maryland Lottery and Gaming. “This is truly a historic occasion. We’re so happy for the winner, and we know the South Carolina Education Lottery can’t wait to meet the lucky ticket holder,” he continued. None of the winners of the huge jackpots have come forward as of Sunday.

As the sun goes down on those whopping winners, the sun rises on new lottery totals. Mega Millions will hold its next drawing Tuesday, offering $45 million with a cash payout of $25 million. Powerball will follow Wednesday with an opening jackpot of $40 million and a cash payout of $23 million.