Includes video report
By Todd Northrop
Some lottery winners spend months hiring financial experts and planning how to best claim their lottery jackpot, but not so with the winner of the largest lottery jackpot ever claimed by a single ticket.
Upon learning that she held the winning ticket, 53-year-old Mavis Wanczyk just walked into Massachusetts Lottery headquarters the morning after the drawing and handed over the ticket for validation of her prize. Her half-billion-dollar lump-sum cash prize.
She could have taken the jackpot as a $758.7 million prize paid in 30 installments over 29 years, but instead Mavis chose to take a lump sum payment of $480 million, which works out to $336 million after initial taxes are withheld by the lottery.
Last night Mavis was heading home from work at Mercy Medical Center with her firefighter friend. As they discussed the Powerball drawing that just took place they joked that someone was going to win because it was all "birthday numbers" drawn. (Birthday numbers are numbers all 31 or lower.)
As her friend rattled off the numbers that were drawn, Mavis started to realize that she actually had all of them. Her friend took a look at her ticket, he told her to immediately sign it because she was the big winner.
Mavis had chosen all of her own numbers on the winning ticket as a random assortment of various birthdays, and the number 4 is a lucky Keno number of hers. She also played a couple of Quick Picks that did not win.
She is a regular lottery player, mainly of scratch-off games. It was a "pipe dream" of hers to win a big lottery jackpot one day.
Mavis has a daughter, 31, and a son, 26. She has been an employee of Mercy Medical Center for 32 years.
The winning Powerball numbers drawn Wednesday night were 6, 7, 16, 23, and 26, with Powerball number 4. The Power Play number was 4.
At a press conference Thursday afternoon, Mavis, accompanied by her mother and two sisters, briefly spoke about her experience.
When asked if she was quitting her job, Mavis said she already called work and told them she "would not be coming back."
Mavis, who lives in Chicopee, Massachusetts, where the winning ticket was purchased, plans to do nothing immediately except "go hide in her bed" until she can figure out some more concrete plans.
She won't be buying a new car, as she just finished paying off a car she bought last September.
Although Mavis didn't display any signs of wanting to rashly spend her new fortune, State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, who accompanied Mavis at the press conference, said that the Treasurer's office and Office of Economic Empowerment both have financial counseling and resources available to assist Mavis and other lottery winners.
The winning Powerball ticket was purchased at Pride Station & Store, located at 27 Montgomery Street in Chicopee, Massachusetts.
The store will receive a $50,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket, and the store owner has already informed the lottery that he will be donating the entire amount to charity.
VIDEO: Watch the press conference
Oh boy..
That financial lady is really hogging the spotlight. Back off! It's Mavis' Day.
Single winner!!!!!!
Congrats to her. However, I'm praying for her. This is simply way to soon. No consulting with tax, financial and investment advisors is not the way you want to start off living with $300 + millions. Not to forget she let her face be seen. She has opened herself up in ways she will regret. My jaw dropped when I learned of this. I pray the best for her.
I agree 100% way too soon. And she should have created a trust in order to remain anonymous.
Good luck to her
I'm so confused why she would run and come forwards right away? The money's not going anywhere. I would do my <snip> best to shield my identity first, that's for sure.
She came out too soon but then again nobody knows much about her she should have thought of a backup game plan
Maybe Mavis was concerned about the little paper ticket being destroyed, lost, stolen, etc...
Congrats!!!
WOW,,,,,
Hoping things go well for the winner and that she is prepared to be overwhelmed by all the scammers and new "friends" wanting money. It's difficult enough to navigate the waters of newfound wealth with planning and forethought before claiming a big prize...
Honestly i would have remained anonynous between 6 months and the yr. What the remainder family my sister and other relatives and I have left living I would have had a game plan going before coming out to being the winner.
This woman's Facebook page is still open for the world to see. Friends list and family wide open. Nice people are warning her to set it private on her public wall. Her "friends" are laughing and saying to mind their own business. I won't Dox her and link it but she absolutely thinks she wants all the attention that is coming her way from this right now. I hope she gets smart fast or this will end exactly as you expect it will.
Congratulations on your win
She's gonna be "Mave The Rave" to all the boys now....... G5
Setting it private means nothing. Something smells funny about this whole thing now now that you mentioned about Facebook. If I were her I would deactivate any social media sites anything like that because she's going to get harassed by someone she's going to piss off the wrong person
It's definitely her real page. She has pictures of her and her son from years ago and is friends with the son from the picture and he has pictures from several years ago. You can't fake the date on the posts. They are not playing it smart at all. They are giving scammers all the info they need. It's sad for her to let her friends mock those giving honestly good advice. You tend to be like those you surround yourself with.
Congratulations to her and best of luck creating an epic future from her good luck!
Awesome that she chose her own numbers.
I'm confused why her friends are mocking people and commenting on her page, they didn't win anything, she did. Unless and until she gives them anything they are in the same boat they were in yesterday. They might think they are still her friends, she however might think very differently after yesterday.
WOOOOO HOOOOOOOO
Excciiiiitttttiiiiiiiinggggg
Give you a little lesson about Facebook and any social media page it's a cloud storage everything is stored in there. She needs to deactivate everything and her move isn't the smartest one. You're absolutely right about one thing the scammers out there and all the hackers. I deactivated that site two years ago and I'm never going back on
We all march to the beat of a different drum. Maybe she already prepared for a day like this and was just waiting. When I win the monster jackpot, I will validate my ticket first thing in the morning. It is called being prepared. I will not be chewing gum or opt for a press conference unless it's mandatory. Either way, she is a winner and a big heartfelt congratulations to her.
***I LOVE THE FACT THAT ABOUT 40 2ND PRIZES{MILLIONAIRES} WERE ALSO MADE OVERNIGHT...VERY SWEET.***
So well stated! I'd do the same given the lag of time til the funds actually hit her bank.why wait and have others controlling your funds. Massachusetts releases the name anyways. Which I am in support of. She is 53..and smart enough to claim and get it over with.
Honestly i disagree and the whole social media and internet. People need to think first about different things and she did one thing right quarter job that's cool check the finances trust who do you trust I wouldn't trust that co-worker.
And it sounds like she's not smart the way she did it and I'm going to hate to say this she might actually lose one third of that money fast
Mavis wanted her quality sleep tonight and all in the future.
wow. just wow. that is incredibly fast to claim. wow
Sooo no one wants to talk about the third mysterious black ball that was drawn in lastnight powerball numbers...OK but im glad i save it before it was taken off the internet...
And picked them all by herself WOW!!!!
Lol She is worried about her. Imagine the bad publicity for the lottery if she is harmed.
The winner even admitted she was going home...hiding in her bed. I am shocked by her claiming so quickly. I hope she rounds up a good team of advisors but I am worried about her. She may be back in the news in a couple of months but I hope not.
I watched live and I have the drawing video below. I don't see a mysterious black ball.
Mysterious black ball. I watched and maybe I missed something. Can you please point it out?
Conspiracy I watched it again and didn't see a black ball. Maybe something else.
Congratulations to Mavis. I would have turned the ticket in too--not to be worried about it. She has a couple of weeks to get a lawyer and her financial folk together.
I would disagree. Okay she quit her job. However the problem now is on social media. There are certain things you can't control. You can't control people. It is plastered all over the place.
It is a visual illusion. Shadows between and behind the balls rolling around.
Dying laughing at some of the comments I am reading on posts about this woman on the Internet where you have people stating that they won because they didn't buy a ticket or don't play the lottery and I'm like umm, she's holding a check in her hand for $758 million, how are you a winner again? That kind of logic really makes me shake my head. Most of these people can probably barely afford to pay their cellphone bill every month, they should probably take a chance with the lottery, they need it.
... Or maybe she claimed it before the rest of the lottery group found out about it!
I didnt make this up,I only went by what I read...
‘No, No, Dear God No,’ Mumbles Powerball Presenter After Drawing Pitch-Black Ball
TALLAHASSEE, FL—Staring down in shock and turning pale, the host of Wednesday night’s $700 million Powerball lottery reportedly muttered to herself in utter horror after the randomized drawing produced an entirely unmarked, pitch-black ball. “32, 16—Oh, dear God.... No, no, no,” said Powerball host Laura Johnson, who trembled visibly as the black and otherwise featureless ball came to a rest at the end of the machine’s display tube. “How could this happen? Oh Christ, not yet! Please, not yet! Jesus, they said we’d have more time. They said we’d … oh no, no—” At press time, viewers of the drawing reported seeing the studio lights flicker followed by an unearthly scream just as the televised feed cut to static.
I guess you're not aware that The Onion is a satire/comedy website. All fake stories.
I guess I wasnt but now I am thanks 2 u...
My all time favorite Onion report:
NSFW
Lol onion play 2 much but my first time hearing of them they had me fooled...
So you believe everything that you hear?
Interesting thought. The whirlwind speed at which she cashed it does seem curious. Hopefully, the Massachusetts Lottery did a cursory review of the ticket purchase before going public. Being she picked the numbers is a huge plus (even more so, if she's played those #s in the past), since most group plays are QPs.
On a related note, based on what I read, the Mass Lottery initially identified the wrong location of where the ticket was sold. How does a mistake like that happen?
Doesn't inspire much confidence. I mentioned in a previous thread regarding the potential of a participating PB or MM lottery messing up their numbers file and submitting incorrect data to the master file. Not aware of it ever happening, but seems within the realm of possibility given the seemingly slipshod operation of some lotteries. If that were to occur, many players would think twice buying a PB or MM ticket ever again. Look at what happened with Hot Lotto.
Rambling on, but probably a blessing the jackpot was hit before sales got super-heavy, which could have strained the operation of some participating PB lotteries.
That is not what I would have done, but best of luck to her. It is not just what to do with the money, it is also managing your life in the bright spotlight as a newly famous and rich person. Some time to think, plan and get some advice may have been good. Let's see how this works out for her.
Wow so I am looking at the facebook page of the winners son and daughter. I'm bored sorry. her daughter posts that people shouldn't be that excited for her because her and her Mom do not talk. Makes sense why it was only the winners sisters and mom at the press conference and not her two kids. A news article said the dad died in a hit and run last year. I cant imagine being in the kids shoes. True enough they were not the winners but to know your mom won that jackpot and you may not see a dime of it??? Ouch. I'd rather be in my shoes and have won nothing then be in that position.
People need to watch what they post on facebook. I am not on there as I deactivated however. I guess we will all start finding out soon more bits and details about the family.
Mavis thinking * could be: Let me claim now, and go into hiding. The press will have no " l wonder who won, when will they come forward, how many winners are there?"Mavis has essentially stuck a needle in the " who could it be" balloon. It's a classic move, you know that " Nothing to see here folk, move along."
Maybe it was the eclipse that created the illusion.
Solar eclipses do funny things to TVs.
.
Still, I just want a prize #2, which can happen on any MM or PB lotto drawing.
There was no 32 ball drawn in last nights PB drawing. However in the official drawing, I did notice that after the Power Ball (the 4 ball) was drawn, you could see the balls spinning around in place. Particularly the 15 ball.
As a previous jackpot winner, I must say.... Everything decision that this lady has made to this point has been the wrong one. She is really putting herself in a bad spot as far as attention goes. Who knows what the reason is, but maybe she doesnt have the mental facilities to understand that this isnt the same as cashing in a $100 winning ticket... There are a lot of insane people out there, and this woman is putting a giant target on her back. I hope for nothing but the best for her, but at this point, its almost impossible to think that she will be 100% safe.
This lady didn't wait either:
A Georgia woman named Ira Curry has come forward as one of two winners of the $648 million Mega Millions jackpot, less than 24 hours after the lucky drawing for the second biggest lottery jackpot in U.S. history, a lottery official said Wednesday.
Curry, 56, did not appear at an afternoon news conference announcing her as the winner. A state lottery spokeswoman said she was taking the lump sum payment for her share of the jackpot, valued at over $173 million.
Source: Ga. Woman Comes Forward to Claim Share of $648 Million Mega Millions Jackpot - NBC4 Washington http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Mega-Millions-Jackpot-Climbs-Toward-a-New-Record-235992061.html#ixzz4qjocn7nC
Follow us: @nbcwashington on Twitter | NBCWashington on Facebook
I think she made a bad move too but we need to cut her some slack.
One article says the PB winner's husband was killed a couple of years ago while at a bus stop that got hit by a drunk driver.
How long before she goes bankrupt? 10 years? OK, she won a lot of money, 20 years perhaps.
Coming forward too soon! She's on that emotional high that happens at the begining. This is wreckless! I fear this is going to end badly for this winner. Precautions were not implemented before turning in the ticket. A Trust would have been perfect.
Congrats lady.....I wonder if she is single or divorced.You will see the marriage proposals jump out the blue lol
So the odds of even an astronomicl game can truly favor the players on ovcasion.. almost 36 winners this draw.. Congratulations to the winners