N.Y. laundromat sells $122M Powerball lottery ticket

Jan 24, 2011, 9:06 am (41 comments)

Powerball

CATSKILL, N.Y. — You never know, do you?

Some lucky Powerball player just hit a $122 million jackpot at the Clothespin Laundromat in Catskill, New York.

Though laundromat owner Bahasu Patel wasn't sure who won, rumors have already begun to spread around town.

"Somebody said the guy at the tobacco shop had won," he said, "but when someone went to check they said he hadn't."

Two other people Patel spoke with also thought an employee at Smoker's Choice on Central Avenue had won Saturday night's Powerball jackpot but no one could confirm it.

New York Lottery spokeswoman Carolyn Hapeman said Sunday afternoon that no one had contacted the Lottery yet to announce they had won. She anticipated she would get a bunch of calls about it tomorrow morning.

The winning numbers were 30, 31, 34, 45, and 51, with Powerball number 23.

Hapeman said the odds of winning the Powerball jackpot were 1 in 195 million.

New York began participating in the Powerball drawing — which now includes 42 states plus Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands — in January 2010, with the first drawing being Feb. 3, 2010.

The first New York Powerball jackpot winner was in December 2010. The winner of that jackpot, who has not yet come forward, bought their ticket at a Stewart's Shop in Wilton and won a prize of $48.8 million.

Winners have up to a year to claim their prize.

Hapeman encouraged Saturday night's winner to immediately sign the back of their ticket and redeem it at a state Lottery customer service center. The center closest to our region is in Schenectady, she said.

The winner has the option to choose a lump sum of cash valued at less than the $122,100,000 jackpot, or receive annuity payments over 30 years that will equal the full prize amount. Thirty annual installment payments for Saturday night's jackpot equate to $4,070,000 each.

Lottery jackpot winners are required by law to have a press conference and photo shoot to announce their winnings, Hapeman said.

Clothespin Laundromat was the first laundromat statewide to offer lottery tickets, Patel said, and now laundromats are encouraged to carry lottery vending machines or have an attendant on hand to sell tickets.

Patel said there are often winners of smaller amounts who play scratch-offs or other lottery games — with one gambler taking home $45,000 in one purchase — but there has never been a jackpot of such magnitude there.

"You just never know," he said.

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News story photo(Click to display full-size in gallery)

Daily Mail

Comments

Win$500Quick's avatarWin$500Quick

Was the winning ticket a quick pick?

sully16's avatarsully16

congrats to the winner, he can buy his own washing machine now.

Todd's avatarTodd

Quote: Originally posted by sully16 on Jan 24, 2011

congrats to the winner, he can buy his own washing machine now.

LOL  Good one!

zerxfi

i'm not going to complain about how someone from new york always wins the lotto cause i'm better than that

hearsetrax's avatarhearsetrax

Quote: Originally posted by sully16 on Jan 24, 2011

congrats to the winner, he can buy his own washing machine now.

Green laugh good one , Sully

 

personally if thar smart they'll get the hairy heck out of the state as quickly as they can  Roll Eyes

dpoly1's avatardpoly1

Congrats to the Winner!

 

And the greedy politicians in New York can't wait to get their 8.97% to throw down the money pit of Government Largess! Stooges

 

 

freeobama's avatarfreeobama

Quote: Originally posted by zerxfi on Jan 24, 2011

i'm not going to complain about how someone from new york always wins the lotto cause i'm better than that

Someone from New york always win the jackpot!!P***ed

zerxfi

Quote: Originally posted by freeobama on Jan 24, 2011

Someone from New york always win the jackpot!!P***ed

nah, actually new york and california take turns

dr65's avatardr65

Nice one! Congrats winner!

Party

NYSlugger 777's avatarNYSlugger 777

Quote: Originally posted by Win$500Quick on Jan 24, 2011

Was the winning ticket a quick pick?

Doesnt appear so according to the Nylottery.org website.

Winning Counties: Greene

Retailer Locations:

  • CLOTHESPIN LAUNDROMAT, RTE 9W WALMART PLAZA, CATSKILL

 

Looks like they used their own numbers so a big congrats to whoever it was, who just beat the 1 in 195 million odds!Hurray!

It gives me hope when I hear about people winning jackpots without using the quick pick option , it just makes me think to myself that I might not always have to depend on a Quickpick to "try" to win the Jackpot.

freeobama's avatarfreeobama

Quote: Originally posted by zerxfi on Jan 24, 2011

nah, actually new york and california take turns

I Agree! Argue

Genome

It must be great to win all that money. I just want to win megabucks doubler and Ill be okay. It's a game here in MA. You pick 6/49 numbers and the jackpot right now is 2.5 million with odds of 1 in 14 million.

Todd's avatarTodd

Quote: Originally posted by zerxfi on Jan 24, 2011

nah, actually new york and california take turns

I guess that would be true if states won the lottery, but they don't.  People do.

Actually, according to the population statistics, I don't think people from CA and NY win as often as they are "supposed" to (again, according to the probabilties/odds).

savagegoose's avatarsavagegoose

hey i recognise that scanner on the counter, thats the new system they just installed here in my state south australia.

any news on weather its good or bad, i sure dont like the thermal print idea, how about not scanning prizes correctly?

 

gratz to the winner. all the gosip, and a press conference,  eesh id be sure to gt my darth vader mask, with voice modifier before the conference. and have a pre prepared script, mainly consisting of "no comment"

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