$214 million Powerball lottery ticket sold in Delaware

Oct 11, 2004, 6:00 pm (16 comments)

Powerball

Someone who bought a Powerball ticket in Delaware has a secret worth $214.7 million dollars.

And as eager as Wayne Lemons is to know who the lucky winner of Saturday's jackpot is, the state lottery director advises that mystery person not to rush into his office.

"Take a very deep breath, take another, wait and talk to the best lawyers and tax advisers, and put the ticket in a safe place," Lemons said Sunday. "We believe in a situation like this with so much money involved, the winner should get good legal and tax advice before they claim it."

He said the Delaware Lottery Office will hold a news conference later in the week. State offices are closed today for Columbus Day so officials won't know which store sold the winning ticket until Tuesday.

All lottery officials knew Sunday was that one ticket - and only one - had landed the Multi-State Lottery Association's Powerball jackpot, which had been accumulating since Aug. 18.

The $214.7 million jackpot ranks as the sixth-largest ever. It's also the fifth-largest ever won by a single lottery ticket.

The winner has a year to claim the prize, Lemons said, and can choose between a 29-year, 30-payment annuity or a cash option of $116.9 million.

The winning numbers were 01, 03, 10, 47, 48, and the Powerball was 27. The Power Play multiplier was 3.

The last time Delaware had a Powerball winner was 2001, when Hockessin teacher Kathleen Kearney and her brother in Pittsburgh won a share of a $294.8 million jackpot. They split the prize with three other winners. That ticket was sold at Books & Tobacco in Hockessin's Lantana Square Shopping Center.

Owner Andy Somers said he'd love it if his store sold the winning ticket a second time.

"After the last big one, we got a big feed of people for a couple weeks," he said.

But he warned players to check their numbers. Don't believe rumors about which store sold the winning ticket and then accidentally throw away a prize, Somers said.

Powerball is played in 27 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. About $660 million was raised through the program for state projects.

And this past week it raised hopes for players who bought more than 68.1 million tickets between Thursday and Saturday.

"This is really a life-changing dvent for someone," Lemons said.

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Jake's avatarJake

    Mr. Lemons is probably the only person in DE who does not know who the winners are.    The hometowners (me included) are thrilled with the news - it's burning up the wires literally.    Stay tuned !

Phokas

So do you know who the winners are? Why "stay tuned" when you obviously can tells us yourself? Are you waiting for Mr Lemons to give the answer?

golotto

1,3,10,47

Jake's avatarJake

    Hi Phokas - my stay tuned comment has to do with the fact that Delaware law allows PB or Lotto winners to maintain anonymity with regard to specific identifying information.    I have no idea how they are going to handle the press release, but I have a strong suspicion that the information released will certainly reinforce that great "it can happen to you"  feeling for a lot of small town America.  We have actually had a couple other PB winners, but they were small pots compared to this.

winner2b

cheers and best of luck to

DoctorEw220's avatarDoctorEw220

they issued a press release on CNN.com.  it was a group of 34 (i think) employees at a printing firm that won it.  they took the cash option.

CASH Only

33.

Babel

Bleh. Why bother getting in a large group like that. If your going to tempt the long odds like that make sure you are set for life should you get lucky.

twisted's avatartwisted
Quote: Originally posted by Babel on October 12, 2004


Bleh. Why bother getting in a large group like that. If your going to tempt the long odds like that make sure you are set for life should you get lucky.



I would say with careful planning, they are still set for life.  Sure they wont be "filthy" rich where they can use hundred dollar bills to light their cigars, but they can get far with $2.2 million (after taxes).  I say, good luck to them.

Phokas

Well, it is much more satisfying to hear a large group is sharing in a win than some jerk who already has loads of money in the first place taking it all (e.g. Jack Whittaker).

It took about two months since mid-August for the Powerball to reach $214,700,000.00 so hopefully it will roll over to $300,000,000.00 or more for around the New Year.

Babel

I guess I have too many things I'd want to do. 2.2 million wouldn't begin to cover it.

mrmst's avatarmrmst

These people stole my story!  Well, at least the story I dream about.  I've been running an office pool for both Mega Millions and Poweball for nearly 3 years now.  We average anywhere from 15 to 40 players on each draw (depends on the size of the jackpot).  At the upper end the pool comprises about 85% of the small company I work for.  It will be very interesting to see what happens to that company as well as the individuals.

rabbitfoot's avatarrabbitfoot
Quote: Originally posted by Babel on October 12, 2004


Bleh. Why bother getting in a large group like that. If your going to tempt the long odds like that make sure you are set for life should you get lucky.



  It's a lot of fun, that's why. Everyone has the opportunity to pump each other up between draws.  It makes the work day seem shorter.  There is such a thing as herd mentalilty.

Besides that, I believe that $2.2 million each after taxes is enough toset someone up for life.

CASH Only

mrmst:

Do you play Powerball in DC or West Virginia?

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