The Mega Millions winner watch in Rutherford, New Jersey, entered day two yesterday with much anticipation but without anyone stepping forward to claim the $250 million jackpot.
Yogi Patel, owner of the Leprechaun News II store where the winning ticket was sold at about noon on Friday, bundled newspapers in twine and spoke of the newfound fame for his business.
"People are happy when they find out somebody won from my store," Patel said. "Business is increasing. People are now thinking this store is lucky."
Rutherford Council President George Fecanin said the mystery lottery winner was the talk of the town as he went door-to-door yesterday as part of his re-election campaign.
"The whole town is excited. Everybody's happy and they hope that somebody from Rutherford did win, and somebody who really needs it," Fecanin said. "It puts Rutherford on the map, a little town like Rutherford."
The winner, of course, may not be from the Bergen County borough because the Leprechaun News II is next door to the train station, after all.
"It could be somebody just coming through on the train, not a resident," Fecanin said.
Still, the town is abuzz and the answer to the million-dollar question could come as early as this morning when the state lottery offices open in Trenton.
"We've had people arrive in limos," said New Jersey Lottery spokesman Dominick DeMarco. "But they can drive themselves in their own cars, or if they're too nervous to drive they can get a friend to drive them. As long as they get there, it's fine."
The first thing lottery officials will do once a winner comes forward is check to make sure that the ticket is real and that it's held by its legitimate owner, he said.
"When there's a quarter of a billion dollars at stake, it's good to be sure," DeMarco said. In the interim, DeMarco recommended the winner sign the back of the ticket.
The winning numbers were 5, 16, 41, 46 and 50, with the gold Mega ball number 1. The cash value of the jackpot is $151,331,750, which, after federal taxes, would be worth about $113 million. If the winner selected the annuity option, the initial check would be $9,625,000 and with annual payments of $9,615,000 for 25 years.
What does the store owner in New Jersey get for this?
I heard $10,000. AFAIK the agent bonus would have been about $2.5 million (1%) if the ticket had been sold in Illinois.
i was at that train stop on a train thursday at 3pm and thought the irish bar would make a good pit stop but no my wife said i bet the winner got his tic a 3pm
How would you have made a "pit stop" at that New Jersey deli from Atlanta?
Everyone in Rutherford should just relax and let the winner get their affairs in order before they come forward. Its not everyday a person wins $113,000,000.
delS
todd look at my old posts also that rain that day closed the hwy so i had to take the train and got off at fair lawn
Todd could you also find out what day and time the w3inner was sold
The first thing lottery officials will do once a winner comes forward is check to make sure that the ticket is real and that it's held by its legitimate owner, he said.
That should take about 10 minutes. The ticket is real or it's not real. The ticket info matches the computerized record or it doesn't. I would imagine the officials have already printed the computer info and are waiting to match it. I also imagine they have a copy of the video tape of the purchase.
It's times like this when people in a little town start to think of themselves as one big family and get excited about a member of the family winning millions of dollars. Some even hope the winner is a nice generous family member who really needs it and will share it with others but the truth is no one really needs a $100,000,000.00 plus and they probably won't think of the town as their family. They probably will avoid all those new recent family members by finding another place to live.
The first thing lottery officials will do once a winner comes forward is check to make sure that the ticket is real and that it's held by its legitimate owner, he said.
That should take about 10 minutes. The ticket is real or it's not real. The ticket info matches the computerized record or it doesn't. I would imagine the officials have already printed the computer info and are waiting to match it. I also imagine they have a copy of the video tape of the purchase.
Does it mean that if I had someone buy a ticket for me, or I used a service like Primeticket service, I can't claim the prize? (for the video tape thing).
JONMOJON,
If you played with Prime Ticket Service, their lawyer would be making the arrangements with you right now to hand the ticket off to you in person, and then you would take the ticket to the state lottery headquarters, where you would claim the prize in person.
A winning lottery ticket is a bearer document, meaning that the person who holds it and redeems it is the person who gets the prize -- not the person who buys it.
By the way, for those wondering, you can go to Prime Ticket Service by clicking any of the Click a Game to Play links in the left navigation section of any LP page.
Thank you, Todd.
Unfortunately I didn't win. Now I know what to do if I win Powerball, I bought tickets through Primeticket Service.
Todd could you also find out what day and time the w3inner was sold
Todd could you also find out if "IT" was a Quick PICK???????????????????????
If it was....................................it wasn'ttttttttttttttttt mineeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
(3 & 1/2 months left in Q-PICKs)........maby December will be the to TIME/WIN.
LOL
PSYKOMO
Thank you, Todd.
Unfortunately I didn't win. Now I know what to do if I win Powerball, I bought tickets through Primeticket Service.
Me too!
I visited Leprechaun News this afternoon, because it's only a slight detour on the way to Bowling.
First off... IF the ticket was a quick--pick, realize the white-noise generator will race though billions of combinations in a few seconds' time. So "at 3PM" is not exact enough. Even one more person on the sidewalk slightly slowing down the potential winner will let the RNG drift to other (nonwinning) combinations.
Anyway, I went to the Leprechaun and there was a Fox News van parked there and a lone reporter with a camera aimed at the storefront. A few people wandered in and out. I went in to play some tickets and somene was having trouble with the copier, but just that person and Mr. Patel were the only others there. No "rush" of people at that particular time. Other than the Fox News van and the handwritten window signs you would not know anything unusual was going on. It was much like when I visited the Super Serve except that Mr. Patel was more polite to me although he didn't seem too excited.
I was hoping someone in Bowling was the winner, but those who actually showed up didn't even talk about it.
Anyway I did match 3 of 5 on the Cash 5 and 3 of 5 on a Mega ticket using my algo's, not a quick pick.
What does the store owner in New Jersey get for this?
Hello, I am the son of the owner of Leprechaun News II, found this site while searching for stories online about Mega millions. We are more than happy to recieve the 10,000 dollar bonus, however knowing if the store was located in another state liek Ill, it would be 1% of the jackpot. But its all Cool, if anyone has any questions feel free to ask. BTW it might take me a while to respond, because I am a busy college student. Good luck
-jatinkumar patel
Jatinkumar,
Congratulations to you and your parents! You must all be very happy, if not with the bonus, then at least with all the attention your parents' store is getting. Must be an exciting time for you, enjoy it while it lasts!
Jatinkumar,
Congratulations to you and your parents! You must all be very happy, if not with the bonus, then at least with all the attention your parents' store is getting. Must be an exciting time for you, enjoy it while it lasts!
Thanx, we are very happy with the attention and the bonus no matter the amount. Life kind of just goes on. The latest update is that the pub across the railroad might have the winning tickets. Thats the only rumor going around town. -jatin
Cool, the owner's son joined Lottery Post!
One of the Pick-3 I played at Leprechaun as a box came out STRAIGHT on today's midday! HINT: Any #s I ever give you as a prediction PLAY THEM FOR 2 DRAWINGS!
I'm planning to play there more often i.e. en route to Bowling (why not) even though the Bowling Alley has Lottery. At least it's close to me this time, not way over there in Ohio.
Since the ticket was bought near East Rutherford, maybe they could buy into the New York Giants. Wait a minute, I mean the New JERSEY Giants!
Cool, the owner's son joined Lottery Post!
One of the Pick-3 I played at Leprechaun as a box came out STRAIGHT on today's midday! HINT: Any #s I ever give you as a prediction PLAY THEM FOR 2 DRAWINGS!
I'm planning to play there more often i.e. en route to Bowling (why not) even though the Bowling Alley has Lottery. At least it's close to me this time, not way over there in Ohio.
lol glad to hear that...
Going to be at the store this whole weekend.
-jatin