By Todd Northrop
One lucky Michigan lottery player in possession of a Powerball ticket containing the numbers 21, 39, 40, 55, and 59, with Powerball number 17, just became a whole lot richer.
After all the proceeds were tallied Wednesday night, the Powerball jackpot stood at $310.5 million. It was the second-largest Powerball jackpot prize offered this year.
The winning ticket was sold at a Shell gas station in Three Rivers, Michigan. Customers and employees were at the gas station last night, sharing in the excitement.
"It's crazy that it would be here in small town Three Rivers," said Liz Smith, who works at the Shell station. "Someone winning some $300 million — it's just crazy to think!"
Smith says she's sold some winning lottery tickets in the past, but nothing of this magnitude. She's hoping it the buyer turns out to be one of the station's regular customers.
Customer Eric Jorge showed up at the gas station around 4:30 a.m. with a stack of tickets, hoping one is the winner.
"I knew I was always going to win one day," he said. "It's just a matter of time, so hopefully, I have one of the tickets."
Jorge says he was shocked to learn what happened in his small town.
"I stopped to get gas on my way to work and talked to a Three Rivers [police] officer," Jorge recalled. "He said, 'Did you hear what happened?' So my first thing is thinking someone robbed the store, and he's like, 'No! Someone bought the Powerball ticket for the 300 million; I know I bought one here the other day so I hope I'm the one!"'
If your ticket contained the winning numbers, and you opt to take the cash in one lump sum, prepare to pocket about $140 million after taxes, according to the multi-state lottery website USA Mega. The site notes that winners can face additional taxes beyond those withheld from the payout, depending on how the winner manages their windfall.
In addition to the big winner Wednesday night, 5 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $1,000,000 second-prize: 1 from California, 1 from Connecticut, 1 from Nebraska, 1 from Rhode Island, and 1 from Wisconsin.
The California second-prize winner will receive a whopping payout of $1,771,065, because California awards all prizes on a pari-mutuel basis, meaning the prizes will change each drawing based on the number of tickets sold and the number of tickets that won at each prize level.
Only the player from Rhode Island purchased the Power Play option for an extra $1, automatically doubling their prize to $2 million.
The Power Play number drawn Wednesday night was 3. Power Play is not available in California, because the fixed nature of the prize increase offered in Power Play is not compatible with California's pari-mutuel payouts.
46 tickets matched four white numbers plus the Powerball and won $10,000. Of those tickets, 6 were purchased with the Power Play option, increasing the prize to $30,000, and 7 of the tickets were sold in California, where the prize was worth $12,025 this drawing.
Powerball is now played in 44 states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Tickets cost $2 each.
LOTTERY PLAYERS $2 INVESTMENT TURNED INTO $310 MILLION FOR THE POWERBALL LOTTERY JACKPOT WINNER.
This is actually a good thing. We now can know how good the new matrix is and how much money{jackpot} it can generate all by itself.
Glad it was won before the matrix change. Now it's time to take a long break and see how this new format evolves for the regular players.
I think it will be sometime in December before we will hear any buzz from either the PB or MM.
Well I can tell you this, somebody played trends and won (they picked or had a back to back number pair).
Now everyone here will take me seriously when I tell them to play trends and win because we will never see another drawing in our lifetimes where back to back number pairs aren't drawn.
It will still be way too easy to win (for winners) even after the matrix change. They'll end up just having to make ANOTHER matrix change to keep from getting bankrupted by winners. Why don't they follow my advice and create a matrix of 299 white balls and 149 powerballs. This would be HARD to win and would reduce the chance of back to back number pairs.
Why does Michigan always win these big ones? I would have much rather seen New York win.
LOL, Congrats to the lucky Gander.
Oh, you're from Michigan? How does it feel to be the odd man or woman out in your state?
Congrats to the winner!
jj,
Now everyone here will take me seriously when I tell them to play trends and win because we will never see another drawing in our lifetimes where back to back number pairs aren't drawn....
Why does Michigan always win these big ones? I would have much rather seen New York win.
There will be see plenty of drawings without back to back number pairs.
As for Michigan 'always' winning the big ones, well define 'always' and GET SOME HELP.
It doesn't bother me at all,you got to stop thinking like that, Start building your own wealth.
Yes you can!
Congrats to the new millionaire. Thank God it was not in the state of IL.
LOL if you live in IL why would you be buying and multistate tickets AT ALL?
i was looking forward to the last of the " easy odds " draw being $360M+ and getting won, man there would have been lots of " last chance " purchases.
I even asked my american buddy to buy an extra ticket for Saturdays draw.
congrats to the winner, and dont spend too hard you can live off the interest.
Congratulations to the winner/s......
Yeah for Michigan(gander) 
I too am anxious about the new matrix 'building faster jackpots'. Seems like MUSL said this before; only difference I saw was it started @ $40 million and doubled in price. Still I play and go on with life.
Well written article Todd. Thank you for not being like the media early this morning 'The winner(s) still have not come forward'. Hello, the lottery headquarters (Lansing?) isn't even open @ that hour. Drives me nuts when they say that.
I DON'T NEED HELP! LOL
Harder matrixes will shut down back to back number pairs.
It's a known fact that it's too easy to win in Michigan.
Test your theory jj, go play tickets in all these places where you've said 'it's too easy to win' and let us know how do.
Master, I'd like to say that I feel good that someone won (unfortunately not me) but I can't.
That is what I was saying this morning to my husband, "Thank God it was not in the state of IL." So the winner will get all of their money, except the share from IL. I wonder how that is going to work.
Congratulations to the lucky winner. May you have lots of luck and fun with it.
Can someone tell me when the new Matrix change takes place this month and i heard with this change the tickets are now $4 each...
Congrats to the lucky winners.Now lets see how big this next jackpot will get.
No problem, if I ever get to Michigan I'll buy tickets and collect my easy jackpot win. Once I do, I'll ship you a bottle of the finest whatever it is you like to drink. :-)
Wednesday, 7 OCT 15 is when the Matrix changes. Still costs $2 or $3 with Powerplay option.
Hype balloon = DEFLATED
Golfer, I thought I was the only one who felt that way. I am or will try to be happy for whomever won but so disappointed it wasnt me.
Such a letdown, I had it all planned what I was going to do with it. I have an agreement to split it three ways and I am true to my word. With such a huge jackpot $42 mil. net each is still a tremendous amount to win. The lower jackpots are more to my liking but the odds are so astronomical on MM and now PB will be about the same not sure if I will continue playing. I most often had one ticket for each draw as that is all it takes but now I will be looking at the odds and wonder why even try. The same result that someone always wins and beats the tremendous odds, why not me, is what keeps me in the game.
Oh, and congratulations to the winner. Hope someone who truly needed it won and that they do good things with it. I'm trying!
What was the cash value of the jackpot?
App $192 million before taxes.
It is more than that. I am looking for the exact amount.
From LP sister site USAMEGA
https://www.usamega.com/powerball-drawing.asp?d=9/30/2015
On my tic it was just under 62% of the annuity amount. When it's app 192 million, what's a million here or there. LOL.
$197,417,561.95
Thanks lejardin, nice to know that you and i could share our laments. Let's go get drunk and sing at the top of our lungs:
Michigan residents who win multi-state lotteries could remain anonymous under a bill moving through the Legislature.
The state House approved the bill 103-7 Tuesday.
The bill would allow winners of multi-state games such as Mega Millions, Powerball and Lucky for Life to remain anonymous.
Bill sponsor Rep. Ray Franz says the measure is needed to protect people who win large amounts of money and then are barraged with requests for financial help or face pressure to leave their jobs even if they wish to continue working.
The state lottery bureau testified in opposition to the bill during committee, saying it would harm transparency and could create skepticism about whether someone actually won money, leading to fewer lottery ticket sales.
The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.
Did the bill pass the state Senate?
OK..I'VE BEEN AWAY FOR A LITTLE BIT OF TIME .CAN ANYONE TELL ME ABOUT THE NEW MATRIX THING ..I CHECK POWERBALL.COM AND DIDN'T SEE ANYTHING..THANKS MY LOTTERY POST FRIENDS
AND THE ANSWERS IS ""NO"" I WASN'T IN JAIL..LOL
What about "in a nut house" or " Betty Ford clinic", "captured by aliens", "lost in the Amazon Rain Forrest" or possibly hog tied by JJthePrince and taken to buy tickets in Michigan to be assured of a win on the PB next time ?
Go to the Massachusetts lottery website, it has all the details on it. Virginia lottery had same news on Facebook, but could not find it on their website. Still have my doubts that jackpots will go up any faster than they do now. They said same thing last time, remember?
LOL well it's true, all you gotta do is buy a ticket in Michigan and BOOM! automatic jackpot win.
Customer Eric Jorge showed up at the gas station around 4:30 a.m. with a stack of tickets, hoping one is the winner.
"I knew I was always going to win one day," he said. "It's just a matter of time, so hopefully, I have one of the tickets."
There probably will be more customers showing up with stacks of tickets and the same expectations but leaving disappointed.
Since Michigan is a state that wins more than NY, CA, FL, NJ, and PA combined, I bet the average player there buys $2,000 worth of tickets for big drawings
Before MM came to Ohio I would travel to Michigan to get MM tickets when its jackpots were high and Ohioan would buy more tickets than Michigans would but many Ohioan were buying tickets for their friends and co-workers too. I know when friends and former co-workers heard I was making the trip they would give me money to pick up some tickets for them too.
If you are interested in how much each state spends on PB and MM tickets, LottoReport publish it after each drawing.
Goodbye to Powerball. It was a fun game, but with these new odds, well, it's pretty silly to play, not that it wasn't silly before.
Just buy your powerball tickets in Michigan, it will still be way too easy to win there.
Yeah, today is my last purchase of Powerball tickets. Gonna buy $20 worth of tickets and say farewell.
I'll still be in it for each draw. Even 2nd prize is life changing. Especially at my age.
Congratulation to the winner. This town of Three River is so small, blink twice & you gone through the entire town. LOL NO JOKE!
LOL!
I live in Michigan and never even heard of that city. Googled and thought it looked like a town stuck in the 70's, laughed when I saw a Walmart!
Well, hopefully a large group of people from that American Axle plant won, that would be a good story.
Yup, already have my last ticket, bought it weeks ago as part of a advance draw.
Also glad to see the JP start over, so we can see how slow... it builds w/less players,
as it circles the drain.
Not sure how true this is but.....Our Detroit local newspaper just reported this;
The winner is a supervisor at a manufacturer in Three Rivers. The company said she left her third-shift job last night after finding out she had the winning numbers. The company said it wasn't sure if she'd be back for her next shift.
Bontrager, the Shell gas station worker said she knows the winner, described as a younger woman and a regular customer.
Hmmm...What do we all say, "DON'T TELL ANYONE YOU WON"!!
If it is indeed true then she needs to make plans to relocate to a far away state and start a brand new life. This is probably the only sure fire way to actually keep your sanity and enjoy your life and winnings without being hounded.
...and that's the issue involved in the wonderful way you put it, "circling the drain."
You think the lotteries would have learned their lesson with Megamillions, where it recently took 20 draws, two and a half months to get to $260M, a large jackpot, but not one likely to generate "Lotto Fever" these days.
In 2013, under the old lottery, in the jackpot that went to $636M in 22 draws, they were at $257M in 18 draws, at $344M in 20 draws.
The number of draws has a big effect on the probability that the lottery jackpots will grow to large amounts. Some people think that this change will result in larger jackpots being more frequent. Probably the opposite is true.
The problem began with the $2 Powerball ticket. It generated some large jackpots, but it eroded sales in both MM and Powerball over the long term.
I expect that eventually both games will continue to decline and possibly disappear.
So the new Matrix is in effect...yet the prize amount only jumped $10 million, like it always did with the last 'upgraded Matrix'. Curious to see what happens after this Wednesday if nobody hits the big one...still $10 million more???
Parody of the "row, row, row your boat" song
Slow, slow, slow your growth, gently down the drain,
merrily merrily merrily merrily
Powerball is lame. LOL
That's because regardless of matrix the game operates in the red for the first couple draws of a new cycle. Total PB sales for Saturday and this coming Wednesday likely won't even equal the advertised prize. We will not be able to see the true effect of the new matrix until the higher jackpots.
The new Power Ball game is now on sale.
They added 10 more white balls and reduced number of red balls to 26, for more higher odds at winning.
See comments already that the jack pot could likely exceed $900M with this new game.
What was the logic to this scheme?
Congratulations to Julie Leach ! You are the sole winner as described by Todd's post today . And with a video.
"What would she have done if she had won it in Illinois ?" LOL
Reading this thread I learned that she could have waited until the bill to allow anonymity was passed and signed into law by the Governor.
Well, onto the next jackpots !!
Doesn't sound like she's concerned w/anonymity, she went to her workplace and had others verify that the ticket was a winner.
"We will not be able to see the true effect of the new matrix until the higher jackpots."
We may see the effect of the new matrix in a week by checking sales figures for the first couple of drawings using the new matrix.
I'm wondering if New York state will ever allow anonymity...OK ...with that said I must have been asleep at the wheel. I didn't know about the new matrix in both Mega Millions and Powerball games..Silly Rabbit
