On Tuesday afternoon, a new record-breaking ticket was sold in California after delays from Monday night’s drawing brought added suspense.
For over $2 billion, it’s no surprise more people have gotten in on the largest jackpot in Powerball history.
“I see people who never buy a ticket in their life, they’re just coming for the lotto,” said Vijoi Patel, owner of Rocky Hill 99 gas station.
The drawing for Monday night’s winning numbers was stalled for roughly 10 hours until the situation was eventually resolved on Tuesday morning around 9 a.m.
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“I know a lot of people are concerned whether or not there was some tricky stuff going on,” said Isaac Yopp of New Britain. “It’s the biggest jackpot we ever had and all of a sudden, there’s technical difficulties.”
In a statement, the Multi-State Lottery Association, which manages the drawing for Powerball, said the delay resulted from “a participating lottery needing extra time to complete required security protocol.”
That state that had issues was not made known, but according to Greg Smith, president of the CT lottery, this isn’t the first time a delay has happened.
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“It doesn’t normally take until the morning, but you go, ‘Don’t move forward until we know it’s the right time to do it,’ and that’s the most important thing because any player that has a ticket, they want to know their numbers were in,” Smith said.
While the jackpot winner can now choose between a lump sum of $997.6 million or the full annuitized total, four Connecticut residents also went home with some change.
“$50,000 is a good win on a two-dollar wager, so we’re really happy for all of CT Lottery’s winners,” Smith said.
The California store received a $1 million bonus for selling the winning Powerball jackpot ticket, but based on Connecticut’s rules, a Connecticut retailer would receive a $100,000 bonus for selling a winning ticket.
