Three Powerball winners in New Jersey, Minnesota split $448 million
A mammoth $448-million Powerball jackpot, the third-largest ever, will be shared by three people after two winning tickets were sold in New Jersey and one was sold in Minnesota.
No winners immediately stepped forward to claim the jackpot. They have a year from the date of the drawing to collect their winnings.
One of the winning New Jersey tickets was purchased at a Super Stop & Shop store in South Brunswick, and the other one was bought at an Acme Markets store in Little Egg Harbor, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey lottery said.
The winning Minnesota ticket was sold in Anoka County, the Minnesota State Lottery announced. The exact site wasn’t revealed.
The three tickets matched all six jackpot numbers: 05, 25, 30, 58, 59 and Powerball 32. The jackpot swelled from $425 million during the day Wednesday as people rushed to buy tickets.
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Each winning ticket pays $86 million before taxes, or $58.3 million after taxes, if collected as a lump sum. The tickets are each worth $149.4 million over 30 years if winner elects the annuity option.
The $448-million jackpot will quickly enrich Wednesday’s three charmed ticket purchasers, but it doesn’t nearly eclipse the record $590 million won in Florida in May by an 84-year-old widow. The second-largest Powerball jackpot of $587.5 million was awarded in November to two winners in Missouri and Arizona.
Lottery jackpots, which have frequently approached half a billion dollars recently, have been climbing by design.
Powerball, which is played in 43 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands, underwent a makeover in January 2012. Ticket prices doubled from $1 to $2, curbing the number of players but vastly enlarging the jackpots when a drawing fails to produce a winner.
Carolyn Hapeman, a spokesman for the New York state lottery, said it’s become more common for players to hold out for tickets until the jackpot climbs.
The next Powerball drawing is scheduled for Saturday night with a $40-million jackpot.
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Twitter: @benjmueller
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