By Todd Northrop
Someone who bought a Powerball ticket in the Richmond, Va. airport for Wednesday night's drawing will wake up a multimillionaire.
The Virginia Lottery said the ticket sold for Wednesday's $217 million drawing matched all five numbers plus the Powerball.
The winning numbers were 5, 27, 36, 38, and 41, with Powerball number 12.
In addition to the jackpot winner, 7 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $1,000,000 prize: 1 from Arizona, 1 from Connecticut, 1 from Illinois, 1 from Kentucky, 2 from New York, and 1 from Rhode Island.
Of all the second-prize winners, only the Rhode Island ticket was purchased with the Power Play option for an extra $1, automatically increasing their prize to $2 million.
According to the Virginia Lottery, the winning ticket was sold at an express self-serve lottery ticket machine at the Richmond airport. Unlike self-serve machines in retail stores, the machine that sold the winning Powerball jackpot ticket in the Richmond airport is owned and operated directly by the Virginia Lottery, which leases the space from the airport.
Because of the unique location of the ticket sale, two interesting thoughts come to mind: where does the winner live, and who gets the retailer bonus for selling the winning ticket?
"The fact that it was sold at the self service machine from the Richmond airport means it could be literally be anyone in the world," said Lottery Director Paula Otto.
Up to 10,000 travelers pass through the suburban airport daily, and all go by the self-service machine where the winning numbers were played. The ticket apparently wasn't held by an airport employee.
"We've taken a roll call, and everybody we've expected to show up has shown up," said Troy Bell, spokesman for the airport. A large jackpot, he said, often sees workers pool to buy lottery tickets. Skycaps who are tipped in cash are likely buyers of lottery tickets.
"We could have had a whole crew wiped out if the right group won," Bell said with a laugh.
When a jackpot-winning ticket is sold, the Virginia Lottery normally pays out a bonus of $50,000 to the retailer that sold the winning ticket. However, in this case, the Virginia Lottery itself owns the lottery machine that was used to sell the winning ticket, so who gets the bonus?
It turns out that nobody gets a bonus. According to John Hagerty of the Virginia Lottery, because the lottery owns the machine, no retailer bonus will be paid out.
Sorry lotto fans, this unusual circumstance will not create a special drawing or extra prizes for the retailer bonus money.
Virginia's first Powerball winner
Otto says the big Powerball win is creating more than buzz, it's added another chapter into the Commonwealth's history.
"We have never had a huge Powerball winner. We've had lots of 1 million dollar winners, lots of secondary prizes," Otto said.
The lucky winner has 180 days from the drawing to claim the big prize. Lottery officials say they strongly advise big winners to sign their ticket immediately and then store it until they're ready to claim the prize.
Virginia's largest jackpot winner is J.R. Triplett of Winchester, who won a $239 million Mega Millions prize in 2004.
Saturday's jackpot is $40 million with a cash value of $25.1 million.
Thanks to Factorem for additional reporting.
Congrats to all the winners, nice to see so many who won the million dollar prize, I could live with that.
Congratulations to the winner/s.......
Maybe next time, the winners will be from Oklahoma and Michigan and it will be us, hehehehe
Amen sister.... I like the sounds of that.
Well I hope who ever it was, they was not flying out and don't know it yet! Hope it won't go unclaimed!!!!!
Congrats to all the winners and major congrats to the jp winner!
Ooh, could it be that "Jack W." won the jackpot through Virginia again?
Dear fellow members, where on USAmega.com does it show past jackpots being won via 'quick pick' or 'self pick' tickets?
Wish the best for the winner. May he NOT forget to unpack his travel on bag.
"The ticket apparently wasn't held by an airport employee."
Yeah, because nobody working at the airport could possibly be smart enough to live normally and keep their mouth shut for a few weeks.
Congrats to the winner(s)!!
And... the ticket was bought at the Lottery Express (self-service) machine located in the airport atrium.
Gotta love those vending machines, even though they rip you off ever once in a while.
about time one of these Lottery Express machines that sell PB/MM made a winner
they have same RNG tech as rest of terms clerks use
and 2 boot, its the airport, gg Lottery saving money
that airport spot lease just paid for it self!
this winner could be anyone in the 50 states , their spot on, , who the hell knows. i love to find out where this winner is form
anyone want to place random bets for fun guest!
i say newyork!
also gg Virginia: 4% State Tax is $5,228,000 u just got form a out of stater, dang!
also rofl at winner going to have to FLY back there just to claim
and get a lawyer in th area of Lottety HQ , god forbid he hires a lawyer and has to pay the cost to fly him up 2 there, the hours, oh god the hours.
I say New Jersey.
I wonder if the winner was from VA?
With todays technology, I'm sure the VA Lotto already knows the winners Flight, Seat, and free choice of snack.
I assume you can't pick your own PB numbers on one of those machines? There is one at a Rite Aid by me and it looked like it just had the scratchers in it.
Can't be, I have'nt been to VA. recently. LOL
Airport employee.
Congrats on the Win
The one here will print anything you can put on the play slip. It does have a touch screen that will only do strait QPs, I tried it and didn't use it because of the limitations.
The guy who makes french fries at the McDonald's.
Some of the machines in VA only have scratchers too. But the ones with online games give you the same options that you would have going to a cashier. You can insert a playslip. You can ask for a easy pick. You can pick your own numbers using the touchscreen. You can get advance plays or future draws...
I love the Lottery Express machines in VA. (though they have limited options for the scratchers, and I can get a wider selection at a conveinence store)
Whoever it is is just $217 million richer. I sure hope its someone who been unemployed for months on end or some family whose just lost everything & they trying to pay off their kids medical bills or something of that nature.
I like hearing about winners like that..
Congrats whoever you are.
Yeah, I feel the same way... its such a great story when someone is down on their luck or is barely getting by and they hit big. I am so happy for the winner.
Not $217M; it's been over 5 years since a jackpot was claimed via the "annuity" option.
>"The fact that it was sold at the self service machine from the Richmond airport means it could be literally be anyone in the world," said Lottery Director Paula Otto.
The winner could be a foreign tourist on vacation. Good for him or her.
More likely a government worker who will remain completely anonymous.
Sounds like the public is wise to the states ability to profit by selling annuities to unsuspecting winners.
blame insane people running us and our future children into lifetime debt to pay leechs of today demands.
govt needs money so badly, so cheaply, the fed reserve bank and insane morons who run it, , is now buying up all the us debt"t bills" with money printed out of thin air
its like writing your self a check that, going don't worry self, u can pay me back later, its all monopoly money at this point,
ofc that means Govt does not need to offer any rates at all of return for T bills
that's what annuitie is, they just buy a special T bill, and govt pays u
will if rates are rock bottom thx to govt buying there own debt. there no need to have high rates to intrest more people to buy our debt. sense we don't need anyone 2, "writes self a check"
there no real high return what so ever form stupid annuitie in today crazy Govt lastest idea of how to fix our spending issue.
just put it on a unlimited CC and let kids pay for it all what we spend today, who cares about future? they sure as hell Don't give a
ofc they give it lip service of there not doing any thing wrong what so ever, just like of a hooker talking 2 cop ,ofc officer i would Never sell my self, am just dressed this way for a party officer i swear!
ofc there all drug addicts who without the money goes into withdrawl, and god forbid the govt goes into money withdrawl, there far worst then hookers on drugs.
, what a group of aholes we got up in DC.
if the govt never buyed its own debt"t bills" will i do think more "suckers" would of taken the annuitite sense govt would of Had to offer high rate to get buyers of running joke that is us debt
,but as of right now, any muti millioner invester would know T bills are a freaking Joke for returns
your better off using free market as they don't play with monopoly money as much as Govt does to effect rates of return.
lip service
annuitite has the whole"invest whole amount pre tax, going for it, but even that cant make up for its insane low return rates atm of the t bills
just better off in divind and other type's of higher returns, any Legal/money team worth there salt, tells the winners don't take the annuitite ,we can make so much more buying this and that etc to invest
The Federal Reserve runs a shell game.
Except all the shells are empty.
CONGRATUALTION to all the WINNER! I think thats the best thing ever happen to their lives...Lottery is just amazing for anyone lucky who will win.
Lucky for the lotto winners I hope you spare a little to the poor ones.
Congratulations to this Powerball Jackpot winner in Virginia. I did put this one in my current event. Ouch! I didn't know that both Mega Millions and Powerball sold their jackpot winning ticket on back to back days.
The Jackpot was won by a Federal Government employee. The gentleman and his wife who is also employed by the Pentagon have elected to take the cash payout of 136 million before the tax man takes his huge cut.
Those were my thoughts too.
Its like a game of musical chairs.............. Without any chairs.
wow! $217M what a big money If I were the winner I'll go shopping all day and give some to the poor..
such a huge money! spend it wisely....
more people should win this money!
Your pretty close! Just saw the family on Good Morning America story, they are going
to help their grandchild, who's had heart trouble since he was born.
Congrats to the winner! I would say you are so lucky enough...I hope all is well.
Its probably not anybody from afghanistan.
"Professor, how about a nice game of chess?"
You know those guys in Denver (Norad) must have added Mega Millions.
I'm workin' on that, jamella.
Dam the torpedoes, full speed ahead...