Includes video report
Update: Cash value was second-highest ever for any US lottery game
Update 2: Cash value reported by MUSL was wrong! Actually $224.6 million.
By Todd Northrop, with wire reports
LAPEER, Mich. — A gas station in a small Michigan city is buzzing with excitement after the state lottery announced Thursday that a $337 million jackpot-winning Powerball ticket was sold there.
The Michigan Lottery said the ticket was sold in Lapeer, about 45 miles north of Detroit. There wasn't immediate word about the buyer's identity. It was the third biggest Powerball jackpot in the game's history, lottery officials said, and the holder could take home a $224.7 million lump sum.
[Editor's note: The AP published a story today that had wide circulation on the Internet stating that the cash value was $241 million. The cash value for Wednesday's jackpot has been confirmed as $244.7 million by MUSL — $244,655,690.17, to be exact. I have updated the next sentence to reflect the fact that the cash value was the second-highest ever recorded for a US lottery game.]
[Editor's note #2: The cash value reported by MUSL was wrong. The actual cash value of the jackpot was $224,655,690.17. It is the FOURTH-highest cash value recorded in US history, not the second-highest as previously reported.]
The lump-sum cash value is the largest ever for a Powerball jackpot — and the second-highest fourth-highest cash value for any game in US history.
"It's a great day," Mayor Bill Sprague said after pumping gas at the market and Sunoco station, which was the center of the excitement.
Inside, customers who approached the counter to buy coffee, snacks and yes, lottery tickets, offered congratulations to Betr Odish, whose family owns the business.
Odish, 21, said his family has owned the station for two years.
"It's exciting," he said.
Odish, who was working the 2 a.m. to 1 p.m., shift, said a cousin called him around 5 a.m. to give him the good news. The Michigan Lottery said the business will get a $50,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket. Odish said he didn't know what his family would do with the money, but he was sure it would be put to good use.
"It'll probably be their best business day," said Sprague, who described his 10,000-resident community as "a nice, hard-working Midwestern town."
The winning numbers in the Wednesday night drawing were 6, 27, 46, 51, 56 and Powerball 21. The holder of the winning ticket has a year to come forward and claim the prize, Michigan Lottery spokeswoman Andi Brancato said. The identity of the ticket holder will be released after they contact the lottery, she said.
Joe Jackson, 57, of Columbus, Ohio, has been in town for the past 10 days selling used cars. Jackson said he purchased two Powerball tickets Wednesday in the same store where the jackpot ticket was sold.
"Should have bought more. I am very upset," he joked.
"It should have been me," Jackson said before fist-bumping an employee and walking out.
VIDEO: How the Powerball lottery works
I am glad it got hit. I had a feeling about 4 of the field of 5 but unfortunately, I didn't sit and put it all together. Guess I need to stop filling out play slips while standing inside the store. Here's hopinthat is a single winner...kills the excitement of late when name your work pool comes forward and we learn that peeps will be just rich, not mega rich.
Now time to go put in my numbers for Saturday, and I hope I hit. I will come forward immediately since I know media is so focused on Michigan. I bet the winner is a Canadian...welcome to paying your fair share of taxes to US.
Congrat's to the new winner, and Michigan!
Probably no doubt this will be taken as a lump sum, would be very surprised if it were not the case.
I'm thinking its a pool, or an occasional player.
Just cause of the size of the JP.
But I'm hoping its a single long time player or family pool.
Lotteries represent redistribution of wealth at its finest. Lotteries redistribute your income through taxable winnings.
Lotteries represent voluntary taxation.
Its certainly a whole lot better than "forced taxation" which is what is being done in countries where citizens are taxed by their Governments. At least with the "voluntary taxation" one has the option to play or not - and if you decided to play, you also get to choose how much you will play. The other way; they take your money when they want to, as much as they want to, and when they feel they need more of your money - they simply increase taxes and take some more of your hard-earned money.
I've always maintained that I will not tolerate direct income tax in my country - NEVER. If the day ever comes that there is income tax in the Bahamas, is the day my bones will be white, as the old folks say. We have enough indirect tax as it is.
The moment citizens of any country allow their Government, or gives them the authority to put their hands in the citizens' pockets/wallets and take their money, is the day I call APRIL FOOLS' DAY - because once you do that, they NEVER stop taking and then they don't know when to stop, they keep going deeper into your pockets. In addition, because they didn't earn that money (it's like taking candy from a baby) then of course, all they do with your hard-earned money is WASTE IT!!!
I am 100 percent certain that if you were to ask the over 300 hundred million people in the U.S. who pay taxes, if it were put to a vote and they were given a choice to pay taxes or not, I'll bet any money that the majority of U.S. citizens, (and for that matter, citizens of any nation that is taxed to the max) I'll bet my bottom dollar that they would opt for NO TAXES PERIOD!!!! I bet, and that would be an easy win - anyday.
I have just updated the news story to reflect the exact cash value reported to me by MUSL — $244,655,690.17. (i.e., $244.7 million.)
It's the second-highest cash value in history — even higher than the $380 million Mega Millions jackpot on Jan. 4, 2011, when the cash value was $240 million. I'm really shocked by that, because Mega Millions almost always has a bigger cash value-to-annuity ratio, because of its fixed annuity (vs. Powerball's annually-increasing annuity), as well as Mega Million's shorter annuity period.
If annuity rates were not doing so poorly as they are in this horrendous economy, the advertised jackpot (annuity) would have been crazy-high.
Cash is always king!
Crazy,
They interviewed someone from my city.
This is a sign!
Sorry for him but, I'll be the next big winner from Columbus.
Congratulations to this jackpot winner. I didn't know this is the highest jackpot in lump sum when they step forward.
I WILL BUY A LOTTERY TICKET SOMEDAY.
Congrat's to the winner!(s) I just bought $10 for Saturday's $40 million drawing. Can't wait!
Congrat's are in order hotslot!
Look forward to seeing you at the lottery headquarters, showing off your oversized trophy check!
They sure did mess up the amount on that oversized check. $31 billion 490 million dollars. Idiots!!!!!!!!!!-weshar75
Nice catch weshar, didn't notice!
Funny thing is, ole' Jack probably would have blown through that cash for $31 billion, quicker than his millions!
Good call "weshar75".. I had to go back and look at the check.
LOL, Weshar, I was just going to say that! $31,490,000,000.00?
Congrats to whoever won in Lapeer. Here's hoping it's not a pool! Nice working class town north of Detroit, too. If I'm remembering right, not much at the freeway exit, so you have to drive into town. So maybe not a passerby filling up gas from the freeway.
Congrats to the lucky winner.
I just hope the MUSL takes out the quick picks, that way the future winners will win honestly.
Oh and whoever the winner, he or she will go broke real fast, just wait and see.
And I would have won 320 mill if they didn't raised the jackpot at the last minute.
I'm hoping on Saturday afternoon, the news article Todd posts will be titled, "45 million Mega Millions jackpot ticket sold at a 7-Eleven convenience store in medium sized California city"
The Northeastern conspiracy continues !
Probably a rich white person from New England won!
Oh wait, it was the Midwest!
Congratulations to the winner/s......
Anyone else pissed ?I am .
""10,000-resident community""...why aren't I shocked
Congrats to the winner, life has seriously changed
No need for urinary expletives. There will be countless thousands of more jackpots to be won in our lifetime.
Think of this as a dress rehearsal, for when the real deal comes along.
Remember patience is a virtue.
I believe Todd would want us all to become lotto guru's.
By them setting the balls back in by hand they change the course of the numbers matrix whereby as some numbers have no chance to be pulled due to the order they were put in the tube.Lottery drives my ass up the wall.
mcginnin 56 , very nice saying- patience is a virtue and a very nice picture of guru nanak dev ji's and good luck to the winner,or a group of winners
I know,,it should have been detroit...but wait, detroit has a lot of.........
congrats to the winners!!
well, lucky him. i dont think ive even won 2 dollars in 8 months in this game of false hopes.
Thank you nanaimo! Appreciate the kind feedback.
Yeah...
Poor joe Jackson. He's cursed by his own name.
I hope whoever won this powerball is not coming forward because he/she is consulting with an attorney. I also hope that he/she has a lot more common sense than what we've seen with some other powerball winners, and doesn't turn into a jack whittaker, dave edwards or Mr. fick.
Someone should do a 5-10 year follow through with this winner, to show the typical problems that arise when someone wins millions. The state governments & the lottery are apparently happily oblivious to the life changing forces that come at a lottery winner hard, which is why they require disclosure of the winner's name & city. If it can be documented how horribly a lottery winners life changes (no privacy, assailed by money grubbing relatives, scam artists, beggars, sellers of high end items, charities, subject to stalking, theft of mail & car, burglary, kidnapping, death threats, lose friends, lose family, etc) by being forced to be a public figure, maybe they can finally stop with this idiotic disclosure requirement.
And, yet, you've taken the time to post 181 separate instances in a lottery forum. Something to think about...
if you're playing to win one of the multi state lottery games and pinning your hopes on it, you're most likely going to be disappointed. The way I like to look at it is a $1 or $2 ticket provides me more excitement and entertainment than most hollywood blockbusters being shown at the local movie theatre at a fraction of the price and yes there is a small possibility I might win.
Hearse that "Star Spangled Banner" recital was an emotional experience for me.
God bless America!!! 
that's nothing. that mcginnin (who lives on here) has posted over 3000 non-sensical posts in just over a year. talk about no life.
tough to screw up winning this amount of money. and impossible for people not to find out whether there is a disclosure law or not. so stop dreaming about being able to win anonymously, it is not even remotely possible to do it.
I have been told the best way to stay as anonymous or almost anonymous is to form a trust and have the trust turn in the winning ticket. Boy 244.6 million cash payout makes the holder up in that 1% of the richest people everyone loves to hate. I hope they leave this country and have some peace in their lives one can dream!!!
I like hearing about major jackpots being won out of some little joint out in the middle of nowhere cuz that's where I buy my tickets.
So if you ever hear of a winner being sold at "Buford's Septic Sludge Pumping & Cafe", it might just be me.
hahaha man it seems you're swinging punches at everyone lately lol what's up with that?
Some people love to discuss lottery topics. I prefer to read than to comment but thats just me. I ain't bothered by active commenters.
They contribute to the conversation and you should thank them otherwise this website would be another boring forum.
I personally like mcginnin56 as he does not drag everything into politics. I come here to escape politics
1) Wrong. You can screw up winning this amount of money; it's been done before. Please google the story of Jack Whittaker, who screwed up winning $312 million.
2) Wrong again. Each state is different with their disclosure laws; some states such as Maryland do not require disclosure of your name when you win the lottery, meaning you can win anonymously based on where you live (ex - see AP story:http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2012/04/big_lottery_winners_often_deci.html) . That's what makes it inequitable; people in certain states are exposed to all the hellish problems the lottery generates due to their state's required name disclosure, while others in other states are not. It's pretty easy to look this kind of stuff up before posting, it'll save your being corrected.
If you had ever cashed in a win of any size, you would probably remember it.
People who aren't that smart play lotteries too, their chances of winning are probably as good as the smart ones.
It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone what happens to the ones that aren't that smart, there are all kinds of stories on the Internet about them, just google "lottery winners".
That sure is a HUGE interest rate swing/drop from Saturday to Wednesday! Or, based on their further projections, even more dramatic from only Tuesday to Wednesday.
To simplify, rather than calculating the annuity interest rate for everyone here, just compare the percentage that the cash value is of the jackpot value for the prior week:
Cash Value / Jackpot = Percentage
123 / 181 = 68.0%
142.9 / 212 = 67.4%
170.5 / 253 = 67.4%
203.3 / 305 = 66.7%
213.3 / 320 = 66.7%
Pretty consistent, isn't it? (Albeit, on a downward trend.) Until....
244.7 / 337 = 72.6% !!!
And then, after the reset...
26.7 / 40 = 66.8%
That doesn't make sense. (Although it is to the benefit of the winner... Taking a given jackpot amount, a lower interest rate gives a higher cash value. Granted, it should be calculated from the current cash value to the jackpot amount - a lower interest rate gives a lower jackpot amount - but it is always communicated in the other direction, from jackpot to cash value.)
Something fishy is going on here as interest rates didn't change overnight like that and then bounce right back to where they were. So somebody messed up. Either dishonestly or irresponsibly. If the cash they took in for each draw is accurate, then their jackpot estimate should have been around $360 million, not $337 million.
maringoman, i totally agree with you and i like mcginnin's comments too
It's normal. Every loser is pissed, but you get over it real quick.
I got to thinking... there is another big winner off that stretch of I-69 in Michigan (Flint to Port Huron). I'm not sure of the city, though. Does anyone else remember this? It had to be Mega Millions because MI hasn't had PB all that long, and it was more than 3 or 4 years ago.
I heard they serve some wicked chili there.
I hear they reversed engineered Rdg's receipe
Thank you for the positive input maringoman!
One thing I have always recognized is that we are all one big melting pot of individuals here, who choose to express ourselves in often unique ways.
There are some members who rarely make their views known in the way of a post. Then others such as myself, who comment on lottery topics as
well as the other numerous sides of human events. I'm happy that I do not fit into some convenient cookie cutter mold, of the good little LP member.
For those that are offended by my frequency of comments, whether lottery related or not, I make no apologies. That is my personality, and my take
on life's never ending story of triumphs and tragedies. There is no perfect system to accommodate a forum such as this. My hope would be that we
could learn to tolerate each others views, politics included, agree to disagree, and have a lot of entertaining fun at the same time!
Thank you nanaimo!
I'll be sending you that $20 we discussed, for supporting my positions today.
I was shocked to see the cash value go that high! Prior to the last minute bump to $337 million, the cash value on the $320 million jackpot was $213.3 million. What I find confusing is that the Annuity went up $17 million while the cash value jumped to $244,665,690 a boost of $31.3 million from the previous cash value.
I have the same sentiments as Todd as to the cash value-to-annuity ratio. This was indeed very similar to MM's jackpot-cash value ratio.
Here is a good question....Did he pick his own numbers or did he do an EZ-PICK???
He, she or they, could have played both types of bets. Unless that question comes up during an interview, or it is voluntarily give by the winner(s),
we'll probably never know.
Not enough powerball tickets sold in Detroit. Same with mega millions.
Cash 3 & 4, plus scratch offs almost exclusively.
I just really, REALLY wish we had the lottery in Alabama. It would have been nice to have a shot at it without having to drive out of state to do buy a ticket! Congrats to the big Winner from my home state of Michigan!
Welcome to Lottery Post, JackieK and good luck to ya.
Next time you go to GA or TN for tickets, getcho seff some multi-draws and you won't have to keep going back.
I buy a month at a time my own self so I don't have to come down off this dam mountain and mix with them dam flatlanders down there.
Hi Pia Darling,
I found some information for you. There were a few Michigan jackpot winners recently. I don't know if one of these is the one you're referencing.
$36M MegaMillions, on 6/11/2010, from Kalamazoo, MI.
$140M MegaMillions, on 10/29/2010, from Gladstone, MI.
$126.8M Powerball, on 11/6/2010, from Highland Park, MI.
$93M MegaMillions, on 2/1/2011, from Romulus, MI.
$27M MegaMillions, on 5/13/2011, from Kalamazoo, MI.
I hope that helps you Pia, my dear!
my post count is irrelevant to the fact that the new powerball advertises itself as better odds and you pay a premium for it compared to the old prices, yet i am losing more now than before the change probably because i cant buy as many lines as before. i think when they say better odds they meant it was better odds for the people who run powerball.
We in Ohio use to have to drive to Indiana for PB and Michigan for BigGame(now MM) until the state got tired of reading about Ohioans winning big and paying taxes to those states. Maybe your state will feel the same way one of these days.
Ohio wasn't against lotteries because it had its own but it couldn't compete with those games.
I'm glad to announce it was me who won the JP. I didn't want to go public, so I'm being careful. My lawyers said to wait a week or so, and that's what I'm doing. Just think, the LP got the first scoop.
Todd, i'll be donating a nice piece of change your way. Just give me a couple of weeks for the dust to settle.
Congratulations on your (and family/friends/coworkers'?) super big Powerball jackpot win!
You've been faithfully, steadily playing for quite a while, it appears.
Congrats and enjoy it.
I suppose you'll be wanting a prospectus on my Chicken Soup in a Sponge idea now.
Keep your shirt on, there's a lot of people ahead of you.
I'll get it out as soon as I can. It's a hot commodity.
And memorize the Chicken Soup in a Sponge slogan in the meantime:
No Spoon
No Bowl
Just squeeze
In your pie hole.
I would consider it, just change the name from Sponge to something else. Thanks in advance.
did your lawyers say its ok to go on the net and announce your win?
Net? I thought this was a private forum.
I'm in deep ****
This is what I DON'T NEED RIGHT NOW.
Not sure if you are being serious or not, since you could just be pulling our leg, but if you are telling the truth, I'd definitely delete these posts. Stat. Also, if this is for real, congratulations to you!
Fantastic news onlymoney! Are you from Michigan, or were you just passing through that quaint little town when you purchased that winning ticket?
More likely than not, you'll be leaving us at this site in pursuit of your Mega Dreams. It was nice knowing you for the short time you were here.
As a small parting gift to the rest of us wannabe lotto losers
, would you mind terribly posting your winning ticket on this forum, so we can
at least have a glimpse of what it would be like to have such a prized possession?
Best of luck to you and your family!
congrats to the winner or winners. I don't understand how they got 244 million as a cash option, out of 337 million. I thought it was half the jackpot amount. Can anyone explain this for me!
That is so funny . . . Ohio had a state lottery for several years before Indiana started one and we used to drive to Ohio to buy your State lottery tickets!! And then we had to drive to Micigan to get the "Big Game" (mega millions) tickets. We finally wised up in Indiana and we have it all!!
If you really won congratulations!! That is awesome!!! If you didn't win just remember the story of the "boy that cried wolf"!
I remember that story! It wasn't a very happy ending though.
Congratulations! This is quite a windfall from someone who predominantly played pick 3's in Florida. You had earlier contemplated in a post whether you would even purchase a PB ticket.
Glad you took the plunge and set out on your road trip to Lapeer, Michigan in order to participate.
Todd will greatly appreciate the "nice piece of change" you'll be donating his way.
Why are there congradulations for someone who has shown zero proof he won Powerball
It's fairly obvious on the consensus from the majority of long time LP members. Most of whom know full well that it's nothing more than a poor soul seeking his 15 minutes of fame...much like the former Mcdonald's employee who claimed she hid then misplaced the winning ticket for the recent MM jackpot of $656 million.
i would just like to come forward and say i won the recent jackpot of power ball
no seriously.
i really would like to say it.
really really.
Congrat's savage! You must be splitting this jackpot with onlymoney, you two make a great tag-team.
Hope you live happily ever after.
Pretty sure the $244m is a typo. Powerball's site has it at $224,655,690.17.
So if you ever hear of a winner being sold at "Buford's Septic Sludge Pumping & Cafe", it might just be me.
Ridge, what's up brother? You are still the king of comedy!!
I can see it now: sludge pumping and cafe!
Hilarious!
Especially not with people like you who are hell-bent on exposing all winners and spending the rest of your life begging them to toss a few sheckles your way.
I don't think that's chili.
LOL, are these Picasso's children?
Up untill the wednesday, number 320 was the ultimate answer to life, the universe and everything.
Well, now it is 40. Why? because life is changing, so does the answer. LOL
Excellent deduction tvboris!
Hey that looks like me yesterday, as I was taking my afternoon nap on Elm street.
I wasn't beggin' for no money, just panhandling to get some free lottery advice.
Wow, this is crazy. It now turns out that the cash value number communicated to me by MUSL was wrong. The actual cash value of the jackpot is $224.7 million -- NOT $244.7 million. It is very unlike MUSL to coomunicate wrong info, so I'm not sure what to make of it, other than a simple "brain fart". At least the info has been corrected now.
I have updated the news story to reflect the correct number.
Witch hunt!
This is why I would claim anonymously, thank the gods Ohio allows that.
is it public information about all winners who won 2nd and 3rd prizes in PB and MM?
So, for example, can you stay anonymous for 1 million dollars?
Uh oh, it seems I've misplaced the ticket.
I won't spilt it with you. A hundred million isn't enough for me.
Looks like Ace Frehley on crack, and Gene Simmons on meth or bath salt and peppers.
Thank you Todd for the update. Numbers make sense now.
Do you still have your Sweet Swine trucker hat?
Ms. Wilson heard about this story, and agreed to lend one of hers.
Nice catch Loops!
oh man,. it was meant as a crack. a joke.
i would like to say i won it, but I cant because i didnt. but i really would like to be able to say i won it.
nvm i should have kept mum.
Have you already won the next Powerball savage.
Just wondering, I was on the fence about wasting another $2 this Wednesday.
dood, i dont even buy tickets. maybe if its over $500M ill send $10 to a buddy over there and hope for the best.
your pot is safe from me. i m guessing next big game will be mega ball.
Excellent, now as long as onlymoney hasn't got this game wrapped up, me and my $2 are back in the game!
Hey Mcginnin, I know Picasso is famous but I cannot appreciate his art. I don't understand what everyone see's in it. I went to the Art Museum in NYC and his art is there but I didn't like it. I'm very unsafisticated.
I like art like this: simple and easy to understand.
How about you? What type of art do you like?
Hey Golfer! Whats happening dude?
I enjoy all types of art, including paintings, sculptures, and the modern impressionists.
Obviously you've got the more famous artists such as Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Da Vinci, Picasso and Michelangelo whom I love all their work!
The simple, serene art you pictured is nice, but I prefer the more complex, sometimes hard to figure out work like Picasso.
Did you hear about the recent Picasso finding that was found in a museum warehouse? Apparently it was worth so much, they were not able able
to display because of insurance and security reasons. Having just one of his paintings would be like winning a jackpot.
I'll leave you with one more Picasso just to keep you more confused!
This was known as the "Weeping Woman" from 1937.
First thing I'm gonna with my millions is buy new tires for my 1991 Toyota Camry. It needs tires.
You could probably get a set of retreads on craigslist for $100 or less.
You may try to replace the driver as well. Lot's of them on craigslist as well.
You read my mind. Better yet, I'll just buy a patch repair kit.
But then where would I go?
Was the $337M Powerball jackpot won with a quick pick ticket or self pick ticket?
SEEING IS BELIEVING.
Post a copy of the winning ticket before you claim it.
I already claimed it. I'm in Hawaii right now sipping on my Margarita in my 5 million dollar Villa. I'm inviting 15 hot models to join my party tonight.
Power Ball has higher potential to grow. Unless you think that PB hits more often against the higher odds.
Chris shaw is the coolest Powerball winner. He showed the winning ticket to the whole world on YouTube, before he even call the lottery to claim it. I wish him prosperity for the rest of his life. Man, Chris Shaw really deserved that jackpot. His story was amazing. I still see the video on YouTube to believe. $258M with a $5 PB quick pick ticket.
I mean many lottery players have shown their winning ticket, but Chris Shaw was the real deal.
Seeing is believing.
What a simply brilliant idea onlymoney! With all the money you'll be saving with these money saving schemes, who needs to win the lottery!!!
Is it true that margaritas taste better in Hawaii? Good luck with the 15 hot models onlymoney, don't tip them too much either.
Hey Mcginnin, you're right that Picasso from 1937 confuses me. I like his vibrant use of colors but I don't know what was on his mind when he painted that. Maybe he worked in a car junkyard or something.
Did Picasso use drugs when he painted?
Most artists including him, had experimented with a full range of drugs. He also suffered from depression, and had many turbulent relationships.
Few really good "artists" have led a really happy and content life, which probably was a huge contributor to his style and complexity.
Lol, he probably flew them in via chartered jet. They will play him like a puppet prior to syphoning his bank account after he dozes off from a drug induced drink his sweeties prepared for him.
The following week he will meet up with Mirlande Wilson aka "Sweet swine pork rinds" to exchange war stories.
Yes it's true Mcgrinn, So do Screw drivers haa ha ha
fuggetabout it !
I'm coherent ALL the time I'm awake, and even sometimes when I'm sleeping, but that's another story.
On my turf, you have to be alert all the time. Believe me, there will be no filanderings of any sort going on. Unless I authorize it ha ha
Hey golfer!
Well thank ya kindly, bud.
I stay away from the chili.
Somethin' about it don't smell right.
I think Buford oughta warsh his hands when he gets off that dam sludge truck.
There has been some controversy about that after people taste it.
Yummmm....Those have always been one of my favorites! Takes a little getting used to swallowing the first couple of times though.
Does anyone drink the icepick anymore ?
I don't drink too many drinks named after tools but I have been known to get hammered on occasion.
Those are a little strong for me. But give me a "Snow Blower" any-day!