By Todd Northrop
Rhode Island Lottery officials say the winning ticket in Saturday's $336.4 million Powerball jackpot was sold at a Stop & Shop supermarket at 250 Bellevue Avenue in Newport.
The winning Powerball ticket was the only one that matched all five numbers plus the Powerball number Saturday to win what turned out to be the sixth-largest jackpot in US history — the third-largest ever won by a single ticket.
Officials said Monday that no one has come forward yet to claim the prize, although that is not surprising, considering that winners of jackpots in this range would be wise to line up their finances before claiming such a large amount of money.
The exact amount of the annuity payout is $336,366,229, before taxes. Should the winner choose the lump-sum cash option, their all-at-once payout will be $209,966,435, before taxes.
Multi-state lottery Web site USA Mega (www.usamega.com) has a Jackpot Analysis feature that calculates the after-tax payouts on a state-by-state basis. The Jackpot Analysis for the Feb. 11, 2012 Powerball drawing indicates that the after-tax payout for the annuity jackpot will be $228,752,010 after the 30 annual payments are complete (in 29 years), or $142,800,000 if the winner chooses the cash option.
The Jackpot Analysis page at USA Mega also includes the payout schedule for the annuity, since Powerball annuities pay out in an annually-increasing formula, in which the amount paid to the winner increases every year.
A Stop & Shop spokeswoman had no immediate comment.
The winner made a $9 wager, according to the lottery. Based on Powerball ticket prices, one could conclude that the winner purchased three Powerball tickets, each with the $1 Power Play option. However, Power Play only has an impact on non-jackpot prizes, so the winner did not need the Power Play this time — but they surely don't care that they spent an extra $3, owing to their life-changing win.
The ticket price for Powerball increased from $1 to $2 last month. Rising sales nearly doubled the jackpot from $173.5 million on Feb. 1.
Eleven other Powerball tickets sold for Saturday's drawing came very close to winning it all, matching the first 5 numbers for a $1,000,000 prize: 1 from Colorado, 1 from Idaho, 1 from Louisiana, 1 from Minnesota, 1 from Missouri, 2 from New York, 1 from Oregon, 1 from Pennsylvania, 1 from South Carolina, and 1 from Wisconsin.
None of the second-prize winners purchased the Power Play option for an extra $1. Had they done so, their $1 million prize would have been upgraded automatically to $2 million.
Powerball is played in 42 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The chance of matching all five numbers and the Powerball number is about 1 in 175 million.
Very awesome story. Seems like I'm going to start betting $10 now and play Powerball at my local super market.
I hope a rich Wall Street Investment Banker won it.
oh jaysus...lolololo...Ridge ya communist you !!!
Congrats to the winner/s.....
OMG Ridge. Can you imagine the conspiracy nuts and the whiners to boot?
I kinda hope it is a Wall Street guy just to piss the whiners off. LOL.
Contests to winner, I need best way to play, and win....even a few grand would be grand to win, disability doesn't really go as far as one needs. So anyone with helpful hints besides play same no. Would be great, I'd much rather work, but no one wants someone who tips over all the time lol.
Kim32E
It would be just poetically perfect, if Warren Buffet had just happen to be that lucky person shopping at that supermarket in R.I. This would be mere pocket change for him, perhaps JUST a generous tip for some well deserving waitress.
"CONSPIRACY THEORIES, RIGGED LOTTERY SCAMS", here we come.............let the entertainment begin.!!!
YEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
Hopefully its a group or one of the workers that put in. They get paid #@$!%. Hate to see S&S get the bonus. That store don't need it.
Well Ridge, you might get what you hoped for!
I'm no stranger to Newport Rhode Island. It's a very loooooooooooooooooong way from Appalachia, both literally and figuratively speaking.
And to top that off, the winner was sold in a supermarket on Bellevue Avenue, which happens to be one of the richest streets in America. Kinda like Rodeo Drive out in California. Mansions line both sides of the street for a mile or more. The Vanderbilt's summer home, "The Breakers" is located off Bellevue Ave.
Down at the waterfront, U.S. Senator John Kerry keeps his yacht, even though he's from Massachusetts. Lots of other folks keep their yachts parked there too.
Now I'm not sayin' some old geezer who's already a billionaire is holdin that ticket. But my wife did say when I told her the winning ticket was sold in RI, "Wouldnt it be funny if it was sold in Newport?" I think I'm gonna let her start pickin my numbers for me. That girl's smarter than she knows!
The lottery is so set up why is that one ticket only wins and the jackpot was over $300 million dollars they should have had more than 11 $1 million dollar prizes.
I'm only going to play the lottery when the jackpot gets high only the ticket was won in a very ritzy area you know this game is set-up.
Congrats to who ever won it @ RI! I hope they put it in good use.
I won 400 bucks that night and I'm not feeling bad about it.. I know in the future there will be other opportunities and I can wait.
Of course winwi5, EVERYTHING in life is a set-up, one big global scam..........if you can't beat em' ..........join em"
I was right!!!!!!!! I said the lottery ticket would be sold in a particular state with certain demographics or, or, or, or IN A STORE WITH CERTAIN DEMOGRAPHICS!!
I have never posted here before but felt the need to reply to this story.
There is just something that seems very suspicious about this
story.
Out of the millions of tickets there were purchased there happens to be
just one winner from Newport Rhode Island? sure.....
Something smells very strange about this.
One person (probably a WHITE PERSON) matched all 6 numbers
in the relatively small section of newport Rhode Island out of everywhere
else in the country? Something isn't right here folks.
If you look at the demographics for Newport Rhode island on wiki
If you scroll down to demographics you will see the racial makeup
of the city is 84% WHITE people. It is also home to the famous "breakers"
mansion.
So another certain demographic takes home another gigantic jackpot
of something along the range of $120 million cash.
Probably some rich white people who didn't BADLY NEED the money!!!
I'm so sick of this crap in this racist country.
All you rich white people keep whining about Obama but this is exactly
why we need him in the WHITE house. To tax you rich white folks who
are greedy and racist.
Don't even get me started about how racist the ALL WHITE Tea party and republican
parties are.
To the person who won this jackpot in Rhode Island.
If you're a person of color do good with it by donating to some of the rest of
us in this country. If you're white enjoy it while you can, you will soon be a minority
in your own country born out of SLAVERY and genocide on Native Americans.
Had to get this off my chest.