A single ticket sold at a gas station in Michigan matched all five numbers and the red Powerball to win the $337 million jackpot, the 3rd largest Powerball prize in U.S. history, lottery officials said Thursday.
Sales surged beyond expectations for the prize, which comes with an immediate cash option of $241 million, said lottery operator Multi-State Lottery Association, comprised of lotteries in 32 states and the District of Columbia.
The winning numbers drawn on Wednesday were 6, 27, 46, 51, 56 and the red Powerball, 21. The odds of having a winning ticket were one in 175 million, according to the lottery.
The $337 million ticket was sold in Lapeer, about 45 miles north of Detroit. There wasn't immediate word about the buyer's identity, the Michigan Lottery said early Thursday.A person who answered the phone Thursday morning at the Sunoco station told The Associated Press that he was too busy to talk.
Eight tickets matched five of the winning numbers to win $1 million. Two of those tickets were sold in Indiana. The others were sold in Kansas, Kentucky, New Jersey, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
There was also a ticket sold in Nebraska that added the Power Play to win $2 million.The jackpot has rolled 14 times since June 27. The last win was on June 23, when a Connecticut couple took home a $60 million prize.
"I can't even really think of what I wouldn't do," 7-Eleven customer Shelley Taylor told NBC station WBAL of Baltimore, about dreams of winning the jackpot.
"Absolutely nothing but travel; I would travel; quit my job and travel," customer Maresa Gold said.
The largest Powerball jackpot of $365 million was won in 2006 by eight workers from a meat-packing plant in Nebraska.
Tickets, which start at $2, are on sale until about one hour (times vary by state) before the 10:59 p.m. ET drawing. Five white numbered balls are drawn from a drum with 59 balls and one red Powerball from a drum with 35 numbered red balls.