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[h=4]Winners in 3 states to split record $1.6B Powerball jackpot[/h]Lucky lottery players beat the 1-in-292 million odds in Calif., Fla., and Tenn.
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There are at least three winning tickets in Wednesday night's record $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot. The California lottery says one ticket was sold at a 7-Eleven in Chino Hills, near Los Angeles. (Jan. 14) AP
Dave Demi didn't win the Powerball jackpot, but he's happy about the possibility someone from Melbourne Beach may have.(Photo: J.D. Gallop / For FLORIDA TODAY)
The Powerball lightning bolt has finally struck. Lucky ticket holders in three states<span style="color: Red;">*</span>—<span style="color: Red;">*</span>California, Florida and Tennessee<span style="color: Red;">*</span>—<span style="color: Red;">*</span>will split a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>record $1.6<span style="color: Red;">*</span>billion Powerball jackpot that had lured of<span style="color: Red;">*</span><span style="color: Red;">*</span>millions of lottery hopefuls into a frenzied buying spree until the last moments.
The winners beat the 1-in-292.2 million odds by picking<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the magic combination:<span style="color: Red;">*</span>4, 8, 19, 27, 34 and Powerball 10.
The winners can opt for annual payments over decades or a lump-sum payment.
No one has stepped forward yet to claim a share, but everyone now knows where the winning tickets were sold: Chino Hills, Calif.;<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Munford, Tenn.;<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and Melbourne Beach, Fla.
When word spread that a winning ticket was sold at a 7-Eleven in Chino Hills, hundreds of people<span style="color: Red;">*</span>who won't get a dime basked in the glory anyway, many taking selfies with the store clerk on duty because, well, why not?.
“I’m very proud that the ticket was sold here,” the clerk, M. Faroqui, told the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>local newspaper, the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>San Bernardino Sun.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>“I’m very happy. This is very exciting.”
Store owner Balbir Atwal, noting his lotto machine,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>called it the “luckiest place in all the planet.”
“I’m very excited and happy,” he tells the Sun. “My community has helped me so much, I’m so grateful to them. I don’t know how much I’m getting but I’ll be helping my employees and my family and community.”
Many locals just stood around to cheer and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>mug for TV cameras that descended on the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>suburban community of 77,000 residents located about 35 miles east of Los Angeles.
“It’s history. We’re all so excited for our city,” Rita Talwar, 52, who has lived in Chino Hills for 30 years, told
In Florida, the winning ticket was sold at a Publix grocery in Melbourne Beach.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>An employee tells Florida Today that the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>store has been inundated with phone calls.
Police were also en route to the store Thursday morning as a precautionary measure.
Before sunrise, the beachside Publix was inundated with phone calls as speculation swirled on social media. John Koontz, a front service worker at the store, had just stepped out of his car to show up for work when someone he knew asked him the Big Question: Was it true?
“They’re all exited. One of the locals just asked me was it true that the winning ticket was sold here,” Koontz said, lining up one of the store scooters in the cart area. “Can you imagine this is happening here at our little store?”
Dave Demi didn't win the Powerball but says he's happy about the possibility someone from Melbourne Beach may have.
"I'd say good for you," Demi said, braving the early morning chill to walk into the Driftwood Plaza Publix to check his ticket for other possible winnings. "I bought two tickets here and two at a convenience store. I did the one Powerball number," he said chuckling.
Others were also excited. One worker was overheard saying to another, "it happened here."
We have a winner in California! A jackpot-winning ticket was sold in Chino Hills. We’re still awaiting results from other states.
— California Lottery (@calottery) January 14, 2016
In addition to the winning ticket, the California Lottery said that 12 tickets matching five of the six Powerball numbers were sold for Wednesday's drawing.
Contributing:<span style="color: Red;">*</span>J.D. Gallop,Florida Today
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