Powerball Update: Frazier Park, California Store Takes Huge Pay as Worker Says Unknown Winner ‘Owes Me a New Truck’
A California liquor store celebrated the sale of a lucrative lottery ticket worth $1.73 billion – with the clerk who presumably handed out the lucky numbers declaring, “Someone owes me a new truck.”
The life-changing ticket was sold at Midway Market & Liquor in Frazier Park, about an hour from Los Angeles, as an exciting 12-week week came to a close on Wednesday evening.
Although the winner has not yet been announced, store owners May and Jacklin Khalil also scored a big win as they will receive at least $1 million from the sale of the ticket alone.
Duke, the employee who sold the winning ticket, added CBS Los Angeles: “The phone has been ringing off the hook…someone owes me a new truck.”
The employee said he was sure the winner was a local from the small town of 2,500 because people come to the store “religiously” every week to get their tickets for upcoming drawings.
The winning numbers were 22, 24, 40, 52, 64 and the Powerball was 10.
The single ticket was sold at Midway Market & Liquor in Frazier Park, in a tiny California community of just 2,500 residents
Duke, the liquor store employee who is believed to have sold the winning ticket, speculated that the winner was a local since the store is in a small town. He joked that the winner “owes me a new truck.”
The huge payout is the second-largest lottery win in U.S. history, following Edwin Castro’s $2.04 billion Powerball win in California last November.
Castro has made several lavish real estate purchases, fueling speculation about who the country’s youngest billionaire lottery winner might be.
The liquor store is located about 100 miles north of downtown Los Angeles and is nestled in the Los Padres National Forest.
Because it is located off Interstate-5, Duke believes it was won by a local in the small community, where the median household income was $42,200 in 2020.
“I’m pretty sure it’s a local,” he said. “There are people who come by every day to get their tickets. ‘We know them by name so I’m sure someone will be shouting them up and down.’
He added that after the news broke, there was a huge excitement among locals and “the phone kept ringing and people were saying congratulations.”
“A lot of customers come in every day to get their tickets, and a lot of them said, ‘If I win, I’ll buy you a new truck…so where’s my truck?’ he joked.
May and Jacklin Khalil, the store’s owners, celebrated and said they were “so happy” when they learned they would receive $1 million just for selling the winning numbers
The winning numbers were: 22, 24, 40, 52, 64 and the Powerball 10
Owners May and Jacklin Khalil were stunned to learn they had sold the numbers, although the mystery winner wasn’t the only one lucky as the duo are expected to take home at least $1 million.
“We are so excited,” May Khalil said NBC Los Angeles. “(Jacklin’s) son called me and said, ‘We won.’ I didn’t believe that. I thought he was joking.’
After initially believing the news to be a joke, celebrations broke out at the family-run store, which included friends and a bottle of tequila.
“We are so happy,” they said. ‘It’s so exciting.’
The win comes after a long 12-week streak that stretched to July 19, when another California lottery player won $1.08 billion after matching all six numbers.
Lottery officials give the winner 180 days to claim their prize.
The long rollover wasn’t a surprise, however, as Powerball’s terrible 1 in 292.2 million odds of winning are designed to generate big jackpots, with the prizes getting bigger and bigger as they keep shifting when no one wins.
This comes after another lucky Californian, Edwin Castro, broke records by raising $2.04 billion last November.
Like most lottery winners, Castro opted for a lump sum payment that reduced his winnings to $997.6 million – with Wednesday’s winner taking home $757 million if he did the same.
While still a staggering amount, the percentage of the advertised jackpot amount is the lowest since at least 2003, at just 44 percent.
On Wednesday, only 44 percent of the advertised jackpot of $1.73 billion is available as a lump sum. This is the lowest value since 2003
On January 21st, the winner of the $730 million jackpot paid out a whopping $550 million. The flat rate was therefore 75 percent of the advertised jackpot
Edwin Castro, the winner of the record-breaking $2 billion Powerball jackpot, continues to rise and expand his real estate portfolio
Castro’s life took a dramatic turn when he bought the winning ticket at a local gas station last year before claiming a lump sum of $997.6 million in February
Castro has made a number of real estate purchases, including a sprawling estate in Los Angeles for $47 million and three separate mansions in California for a total of $76 million.
The massive LA estate features seven bedrooms and 11 bathrooms, a koi pond and a huge infinity pool with city views.
Earlier this year he was also seen driving away from a bank in a vintage Porsche.
Around 98 percent of all lottery winners choose to have their winnings paid out in one lump sum, a decision that significantly reduces the winnings, while asset managers advise against it.
The few winners who take home the entire jackpot amount will have their winnings paid out in the form of pensions over a period of 30 years.
Although Powerball’s initial annuity payment is not disclosed, in the case of the Mega Millions lottery it is approximately 1.5 percent of the jackpot amount.
For example, in the case of Wednesday’s $1.73 billion jackpot, the first payout would be about $26 million. For the next 30 years, the winner will receive the same amount plus 5 percent every year.
In the tenth year, they would receive around $40 million and their final payment will be around $107 million. At that point, the total amount they would have ever received over thirty years would be about $1.73 billion.
However, the dollar is expected to lose purchasing power due to inflation in 2053, when the winner receives his final installment.