Talk about a multimillion-dollar mistake! Massachusetts State Lottery officials confirmed to Boston's WFXT that the winning $758.7 million Powerball ticket was sold in Chicopee, not Watertown as originally reported.
It was initially stated by lottery officials that Wednesday night’s winning Powerball ticket was sold at Handy Variety on Common Street in Watertown.
On Thursday morning, officials issued a major correction and said that, in fact, the winning ticket was sold at the Pride Station & Store on Montgomery Street in Chicopee.
The lucky numbers from Wednesday night’s drawing are 6, 7, 16, 23 and 26, and the Powerball number is 4.
The owner of the winning ticket is now the winner of the largest jackpot won by a single ticket in North American history.
This is the fourth time a Powerball jackpot winning ticket has been sold in the Bay State. The others were in 2011, 2012 and 2013, according to Massachusetts State Lottery officials.
The previous largest jackpot prize won in Massachusetts was a $294 million Mega Millions jackpot won on July 2, 2004. That ticket was sold in Lowell.
If you’re the winner, there are some things you’ll need to do:
- Sign the ticket to establish ownership of the historic jackpot win
- Bring the ticket to the Massachusetts State Lottery office
- When you go, bring a signed photo ID, like your driver's license
- Bring proof of your Social Security number
Powerball is played in 44 states plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The $758.7 million jackpot is second only to a $1.6 billion prize shared by three people in January 2016.
The current jackpot refers to the annuity option, doled out in 30 payments over 29 years, increasing 5 percent annually. Nearly all winners favor the cash option, which would now be $480.5 million.
The advantage of taking cash is that people can invest the money with hopes of a greater return than the guaranteed payments they would receive through the annuity. The downside is they'll pay a little more in taxes and won't have the certainty of giant annual paychecks for decades.
Winners should expect to pay 40 percent or more in taxes.
Federal income taxes will take a 25 percent bite from winnings. State taxes vary, so the amount winners will pay in depends on where they play. Some of the nation's biggest states, including California and Texas, don't assess state taxes on lottery prizes, so winners in those spots would be just a bit richer.
– The Associated Press contributed to this report
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