CHESHIRE, Conn. — You know what they say, you can’t win if you don’t play. Well, someone played and someone won BIG! A life changing Powerball ticket was sold in Cheshire.
With the odds winning set at 1 in 292-million, becoming the President, winning an Olympic gold medal and getting crushed by a meteorite are all more likely to happen to you. But someone who walked through the doors of 1-Stop Convenience in Cheshire on Valentine’s Day beat those odds.
“It could have been me. But it was not,” quipped Sandi Thomas of Cheshire. Inside the store on Tuesday.
Denise Killis of Cheshire, who was also at the store, added, “The phone is ringing, like crazy.”
The register was ringing too.
“Someone won the Powerball!” exclaimed Rob Simmelkjaer, the Chair of the CT Lottery Corporation’s Board of Directors.
The jackpot win was $185 million.
“Can’t wait to find out who it is,” remarked Killis.
Masood Sadiq owns the store. He’s been playing detective.
“I did call my regulars this morning. Some of them came in but no one came forward,” said Sadiq.
Twenty years as the owner of the store, it’s the biggest winner he’s ever sold, but not his first.
“I had twice a half a million dollar winner and two or three times $100,000,” said Sadiq.
The life changing win was announced on the 50th anniversary of the CT Lottery.
“For only the third time in the history of the Connecticut Lottery to have minted a Powerball first prize winner,” remarked Simmelkjaer.
Whoever won matched all five numbers and the Powerball. It’s an estimated lump sum of $123.9 million before "Uncle Sam" takes his cut. The winnings can also be split up into payments. Now, the jackpot falls to a measly $20 million.
Joel Johnson CEO of Johnson Brunetti, had some advice from the experts on what to do if you win it big.
“Divide the money into three buckets," he said.
- Bucket 1 - Fun bucket for spending the money "the way you want to."
- Bucket 2 - Buy a pension. "Go to an insurance company and buy a pension that kicks off at age 65 and it will give you income for the rest of your life."
- Bucket 3 - Pass it on to the next generation. "You probably need to put that in a trust where it can’t be touched by anybody."
The store's owner tells FOX61 he will use a portion of his $100,000 he gets for selling the ticket to give back to his employees. He will also hold a customer appreciation day.
The big winner is now on a 180-day clock to claim the winning before they expire.
Matt Caron is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at mcaron@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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