Powerball ticket worth $88 million was sold in Charlotte area
KINGS MOUNTAIN, N.C. — There was one question just about everybody in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, wanted answered Sunday: Who bought the winning Powerball ticket worth $88.1 million?
The N.C. Education Lottery announced the only winning ticket from Saturday's drawing was sold in Kings Mountain, a small town 30 miles west of Charlotte.
But officials said they do not know the identity of the winner, or where that person lives.
"Everybody is talking about it," said Wendy Burnett, a cashier at the Silver Express gas station that sells lottery tickets. "No one knows who has it."
Rules give the winner 180 days from the date of the drawing to collect the prize in Raleigh. The winner can receive the money in 30 installments over 29 years or take a lump-sum payment worth $42 million before state and federal taxes.
Saturday's winning numerals were 3, 11, 18, 22, 28, and the Powerball number was 33.
The winning ticket is the second one sold in North Carolina since the state joined the multi-state game three years ago. Jackie Alston of Halifax won a $74 million jackpot in November 2006.
But Alston waited about three months to cash in her ticket, said Pam Walker, spokeswoman for the state lottery.
"She told us she wanted to make sure her ducks were in a row," Walker said. "She had a financial adviser, PR people."
Charlotte resident Anthony Wilson and his wife, Monica, won an $88.7 million jackpot in 2003, becoming South Carolina's first Powerball winners.
In Kings Mountain, an economically struggling town of roughly 10,500 people, gossip is already circulating over who became an overnight millionaire.
By late afternoon Sunday, one account said a man in his 60s possessed the winning ticket.
Jennifer Seay, a cashier at the Petro Express gas station, said she asked each customer if they heard the news. When she checked the winning numbers for a man shortly after noon, he said they matched those on a ticket he pulled from his shirt pocket.
"He looked at the numbers and started shaking," Seay said. "He said, 'Oh, my God.' He started bouncing off the walls. I started bouncing off the walls, too."
As the story spread to other customers, some became emotional, said Melissa Davis, another clerk at Petro Express. Although the news has not been confirmed, "Some got teary-eyed because someone from around here won," she said.
Kings Mountain has been especially hard hit in recent years by textile mill closings in North Carolina.
The town is located in Cleveland County, which has a 15.1 percent unemployment rate, one of the highest in the state. The state unemployment rate is 11.1 percent.
Adding to the mystery, lottery officials declined to reveal which store sold the winning ticket. The lottery's Web site list 16 businesses in Kings Mountain that sell tickets.
Burnett, the cashier, said her store sold about $200 worth of tickets Saturday. One man, she said, buys $26 worth of tickets every week.
At Tom Family's Mart, most people buy $5 worth of tickets, but some spend $200 a week, said cashier Gaston Brigg. Those people usually buy tickets for groups.
Their odds of winning: One in 196 million.
I hope that it is a nice individual that needs the extra money !
Best wishes to the winner !
If I were to be the one to check the winning ticket...I'd be bouncing off the wall too!
CONGRATULATIONS and BEST WISHES!!!
NORTH CAROLINAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA....YEAHHHHHHHH...NORTH CAROLINAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
I never thought of $88 million as "extra" money. Your thoughts are kind & sweet, but that's not what gambling is all about. You buy a ticket, you lose or win. What kind of person you are and how badly you need the money has nothing to do with it.
There's nothing anyone can do about it if they aren't very nice or needy!
Congratulations to him. I'm glad it happened to the town of Kings Mountain. But I can't believe if he wanted a lump sum it will only be 40 million before state and federal taxes. I thought I had read it wrong. Seems like that's what it will be after taxes. But I ain't hating on 40 million after taxes either.
Virginia Lottery must be green with envy seeing all the money they used to get now going to North Carolina Lottery. ahhh such is life
If you're a regular MegaMillions player, you might be a little shocked to see a $88M PB jackpot lump sum cash amount is only worth $40M especially when you see this Tuesday's MM $68M jackpot lump sum cash amount is over $41M.
Good point!
Tenaj, I hear on the news tonight it would be 20 million after taxes. Can you believe that! That's a long way from 80 million. It that because it's NC or is the tax rate the same in most states? I know the winner will be happy either way and I am happy for them!
I almost never play jackpot games and I guess that's the reason it's shocking to me RJOH. Wow. That's a huge piece of the pie. That ain't right for them to do that. You'd think they'd at least let a person keep half the money in cash payout. It's like they give you the money and take it back.
Nope I can't believe they stuck their foot on 88 million and made it 20 million. I'm happy for the winners too.
congrats to the lucky winner or winners, wish it was in tennesee... at least i can go to GA and play mega millions tomorrow and win the same amount of money for less annuity but i have to pay more tax
i really don't think i will care if and when i win... and don't worry lottery post i will mention your name at my press conference 
also this may help the questions about difference in jackpots from the Lotteries. The mega millions corp. pays 55% to the winner in cash and powerball pays only 45% to the winner in cash... if anybody cares why 68 million equals 42 million and 88 million equals 45 million... i know it doesn't equal it all up but they are predicting sales with the annuity and not the real cash value (read the fine print) the cash value is what the lowest estimated sales figures and the annuity is what they hope for but it still does not equal the cash value it's only a estimate
But please don't quote me on this lol.......................
The winner does get all the cash, the $88M is the amount it will yield if the winner is willing to allow the $40 to be invested in an annuity over the next 30 years.
It like giving someone a few packages of seeds and telling them you have given them enough food for a life time if they are willing to start a garden with those seeds and maintain it for 30 years.
Yes, but keep in mind that the Powerball annuity is different than all others, because it increases each year. The MUSL people say that it's beneficial, because it makes the annuity as valuable in the final year as it is in the first. (Inflation makes most annuities much less valuable in the final years -- $200,000 per year will be worth a lot less 30 years from now.)
The side-effect (perhaps the intended effect) is that the annuity can increase faster than it would with a static annuity, relative to the cash value.
It can actually be a compelling option for someone who wants the security of knowing that they won't go bankrupt in a year by mis-managing their money.