At least 3 people, two from New Jersey and one in Minnesota, who participated in the $448 million Powerball lottery this week, have claimed victory and split the jackpot, Foxnews.com reported on Thursday.
"We had three grand prize winners. One was in Minnesota and two were in New Jersey," Sue Dooley, the senior drawing manager production coordinator said late Wednesday night. Paul White of Ham Lake, Minnesota stepped forward to claim nearly $150 million drawing the winning numbers 05, 25, 30, 58, 59 and Powerball 32.
Veteran Powerball players, like Megan Graham of Brookline, Massachusetts told Fox News that the "more it keeps increasing, that means nobody id winning... a lot of people are gonna keep buying tickets and tickets and you never know if you pick the right numbers."
Wednesday's jackpot drawing comes just a few months after the biggest Powerful jackpot drawing in history when an 84-year-old widow in Florida won the $590 million jackpot.
Two winners last November claimed the second most ever, which had been split between two winners from Missouri and Arizona.
Pedro Quezada, a 44-year-old immigrant from the Dominican Republic who lives in Passaic, New Jersey won the March 23 drawing. He claimed a lump-sum payment, which was worth about $221 million, or about $152 million after taxes. (Quezada also owed $29,000 in child support payments, which he paid back).
The price of a Powerball ticket went up to $2 in January, 2012.
There is a downside for having such high jackpots, officials say. "We certainly do see what we call jackpot fatigue. I've been around a long time, and remember when a $10 million jackpot in Illinois brought long lines and people from surrounding states to play that game," Chuck Strutt said. Strutt is the executive director of the Multi-State Lottery Association.
The next drawing is scheduled for next Wednesday night, the Associated Press reported.
