DES MOINES, Iowa — Powerball Lottery ticket machines got a workout as near-record numbers of people bought chances for a $295 million jackpot.
A winning ticket for Saturday night's huge Powerball jackpot was sold at a Cumberland Farms convenience store in Rollinsford, N.H., state lottery spokeswoman Maura McCann said early Sunday.
Other winning tickets could have been sold elsewhere. Powerball officials in Des Moines, the host of the lottery that is played in 21 states and the District of Columbia, didn't immediately announce whether any winning tickets were sold.
The jackpot for Saturday night's drawing was the second-highest in Powerball history and the third-largest lottery jackpot ever in the United States.
The winning Powerball numbers were 8-17-22-42-47 and Powerball 21.
"I just hope someone wins soon," said Delicia Thompson, a cashier at a U-Stop Convenience Shop in Lincoln, Neb. "You can't get anything done besides Powerball. When I get off work, I just go to bed. I'm too tired to do anything." Lottery hopefuls from non-Powerball states streamed into Connecticut from north, west and south — eastern neighbor Rhode Island has its own Powerball sales — arriving by car, commuter trains from New York City and ferry boats from New York's Long Island. However, lines were not as bad as expected in Greenwich, Conn., which suspended ticket sales for a day on Friday because of the mob scenes it has experienced during previous Powerball frenzies.
Bill and Jen Molloy of Rockaway Beach, N.Y., had to wait only a few minutes in Greenwich to buy $40 worth of the $1 tickets. "We figured everyone would think Greenwich would be closed today, so we figured 'Let's try it,"' Jen Molloy said.
On Main Street in Fond du Lac, Wis., which has gained a reputation as a "Miracle Mile" for producing at least five big winners since 1994, Ma & Pa's Grocery Store set up a ticket machine outside for drive-up service. Inside, people started lining up at 5 a.m.
"We're just nuts down here," said Pat Moses, who owns Ma & Pa's, which sold a $500,000 winning ticket in November.
The odds of winning are one in 80 million, but that didn't stop customers from driving 250 miles from Austin, Texas to pick up tickets in Louisiana. "It's crazy, I'm telling you. I don't even have time to count the money," said Muhammad, who brought in an extra employee Saturday to sell thousands of $5 quick pick tickets to customers in line.
Louisiana Lottery President Randy Davis said officials got several calls Friday from Florida and Texas residents who planned to fly into the New Orleans airport to buy Powerball tickets, and wanted to know the name of the nearest retailer.
The biggest Powerball jackpot ever is the $295.7 million won in 1998 by a group of factory workers in Ohio. The richest lottery prize in U.S. history is the $363 million Big Game jackpot, won last year by two players in Illinois and Michigan.
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