Workers at a tiny roadside gas station in rural Texas were stunned after learning they sold one of two winning tickets for the massive $1.8 billion Powerball jackpot over the weekend.
The lucky ticket was sold at Bigs Gas Station off US Highway 290 in Fredericksburg, a rural city in the central part of the Lone Star State, 75 miles west of Austin, according to the Texas Lottery.
The gas station’s manager, Melanie Carter, told CBS Austin she was floored when she learned the news of the winning on Sunday morning.
“Nobody ever thinks, ‘Hey, my store’s going to win a jackpot,’ but here we are,” she said.
“I’m like, ‘No way. You know, nobody believes it.’ So I get on my phone, and I look, and sure enough, it’s right there plain as day,” Carter told the station of the moment she received the news via text message.
Carter said business has boomed at the gas station in recent weeks as the jackpot value soared, bringing in several hopeful ticket buyers.
Due to the sheer volume of customers, she did not know who the lucky winner was or which employee printed out the ticket.
The second winning ticket was sold in Missouri.
The winning numbers for the game’s second-largest jackpot were 11, 23, 44, 61, 62, and the red Powerball 17.
The new multi-millionaires will split the jackpot equally, each choosing between an annuitized prize of $895 million paid out over 29 years, or a one-time lump sum of $410.3 million — before taxes, Powerball officials said.
It is the 33rd time the Powerball jackpot has been won in Missouri, trailing Indiana’s 39 for most wins by a state. It is the third time Texas has sold the Powerball jackpot.
Fifteen Powerball players won a million-dollar payout after matching all five white balls during the massive drawing.
The winners are from California (2), Colorado, Florida, Illinois (2), Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York (2), Ohio (2), Oregon, Texas (2) and West Virginia.
The unidentified ticket holders have between 90 days and up to a year to claim the prize, depending on the state where the ticket was sold.
Bigs Gas Station did not immediately return a request for comment.
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