If you’re holding in your possession a Powerball lottery ticket worth $338.3 million, you’re probably tripping over yourself trying to run and claim your prize, right?
But that wasn’t the case for 44-year old Pedro Quezada who took a few days before coming out and submitting the winning ticket, which he bought at the Eagle Liquors store in Passaic, New Jersey. After days of wondering who had possession of the winning Powerball ticket, Quezada finally returned to the liquor store to have his ticket validated. When the machine approved it, the 44-year old resident of Passaic, New Jersey instantly became a millionaire.
Talking to reporters after having his ticket validated, Quezada made it clear that the first thing he was going to do was help his family. A noble and quite understandable move, but we reckon he should save a little for himself and enjoy the spoils of his new-found wealth.
Don’t burn through all of it, though.
The $338.3 million is the fourth largest Powerball jackpot in history with a lump sum payout of $221 million. The numbers drawn – 17, 29, 31, 52, 53, and Powerball 31 – look about as random as a March Madness bracket, making the score that much more impressive and downright improbable. It’s still short of the largest Powerball jackpot ever when two separate tickets – one from Arizona and one from Missouri – won the $587.5 million jackpot last November.
But despite being a little over $200 million short of the record, the holder of the winning ticket isn’t fretting over the amount he or she just won. 13 separate tickets – two from Florida and Pennsylvania and one apiece from Arizona, Illinois, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina, and Virginia – failed to score a piece of the jackpot, but all of them did hit the first five numbers on the spot, earning themselves a prize of $1 million each.
In the end, Pedro Quezada was the one who got all six numbers right. And for that, he won $338.3 million, an amount that instantly makes him one very, very rich man.
Congratulations, Mr. Quezada! Here’s to hoping you keep your word and provide financial assistance to your family. You have enough money now to go around, anyway.
