Lottery Officials Goof, Name Wrong City in Powerball Win

Somebody in Chicopee, Mass., won the $759M prize
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 24, 2017 2:02 AM CDT
Updated Aug 24, 2017 7:48 AM CDT
Single Ticket Wins $758M Powerball Jackpot
A customer shows her purchased Powerball tickets for Wednesday's drawing, Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2017, in Hialeah, Fla.   (Alan Diaz)

Somebody who bought a Powerball ticket in Massachusetts has scored the biggest solo jackpot in American history. But state lottery officials have a major correction: It turns out, the winning ticket for $759 million was sold at a store in Chicopee, not Watertown as originally announced, reports the AP. "Human error, plain and simple," says the state lottery's executive director, Michael Sweeney. The store in Watertown did sell a ticket worth $1 million, perhaps playing a role in the confusion, but the much bigger winner picked up the lucky ticket at the Pride Station & Store across the state. The numbers that won a jackpot were 6, 7, 16, 23, 26 and the Powerball was 4. The only bigger lottery jackpot in US history was 2016's $1.6 billion prize, but that was split three ways.

The store owner in Chicopee will get $50,000 for selling the winning ticket, reports CBS Boston. The store owner in Watertown will have to settle for $10,000 for selling the $1 million ticket. Of note: The $758.7 million is the figure for the annuity option, which is paid over 29 years. If the winner wants it all now, he or she will receive $443.3 million, minus more than 30% to cover state and federal taxes. (More Powerball stories.)

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