LOS ANGELES, Jan. 14 (UPI) — Three winning tickets for the historic $1.5 billion Powerball lottery were sold in California, Florida and Tennessee, lottery officials said.
One of the tickets was purchased at a 7-Eleven store in Chino Hills, Calif. on Wednesday night, California Lottery officials confirmed. Twelve other tickets also bought in the Golden State matched five out of six numbers drawn.
Tennessee lottery officials said the winning ticket was sold in Munford.
The Florida Lottery told the Palm Beach Post the winning ticket there was sold at a Publix supermarket in Melbourne Beach.
The numbers were 08, 27, 34, 04 and 19, and the Powerball was 10.
Tickets with five matching numbers were sold in the California cities of Nipton, Chula Vista, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Santa Monica, Tustin, Pacoima, Vacaville, Cloverdale, Redlands, Gardena and Irwindale.
The previous drawing on Jan. 9 had no grand prize winner for the 19th time. The last jackpot was claimed in November. Since then, Powerball players have spent an estimated $2.6 billion on tickets.
But even if there is only one jackpot winner, which lottery officials say is unlikely, he or she won’t actually be putting the entire $1.5 billion into the bank. First a massive nine-digit tax bill will have to be paid. And if there is more than one winner, the prize money will be split evenly.
Winning the grand prize requires matching all five numbers, regardless of order, and the red Powerball number. If you only match the Powerball number you win $4 and winners with more matching numbers can win anywhere between $7 and $1 million.
The jackpot is the biggest in history, anywhere on the globe. Previously, the largest jackpot in U.S. history was $656 million and the largest Powerball was $590.5 million.
Powerball is played in 44 states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
