Luck of the draw

Associated Press

MUNFORD, Tenn.

Mystery winners in Tennessee, Florida and California will split an eye-popping $1.6 billion from the unprecedented Powerball jackpot that became a national fascination as it grew since November.

The lucky trio did not immediately identify themselves Thursday, but they bought their tickets in Munford, a town of about 6,000 in Tennessee; the modest Los Angeles suburb of Chino Hills; and at a supermarket in Melbourne Beach, Fla., where residents of a nearby housing development were heard partying loudly after Wednesday night’s drawing.

The winners of the world-record jackpot overcame odds of 1 in 292.2 million to land on all the numbers: 4-8-19-27-34 and Powerball 10. They can let the jackpot be invested and thereby collect 30 annual payments totaling an estimated $533 million, or split $983.5 million in cash all at once.

Getting such a windfall is the start of a “new journey,” and the winners should be prepared with lawyers, accountants and financial planners before they come forward, California Lottery spokesman Russ Lopez said Thursday. California gives its winners a year to contact lottery officials. In Florida, winners have just 180 days to claim their winnings – half that if they want the lump sum.

The huge draw also produced eight $2 million Power Play winners and 73 $1 million winners nationwide who matched all five white balls but missed the red Powerball, said Sally Lunsford of the Kansas Lottery.

The California ticket was sold at a 7-Eleven; the Florida ticket at a Publix grocery store. Tennessee officials did not immediately say which of the three Munford stores offering Powerball tickets produced the winner.

That store will get a $25,000 check; Florida’s store collects $100,000, and California lottery spokesman Alex Traverso told The Associated Press that a $1 million bonus will be shared between the Chino Hills store owner and the 7-Eleven company. The amounts follow each state’s rules.

The California store and its surrounding strip mall suddenly became a popular gathering spot in the rural suburb of 78,000. Hundreds of people crowded the store and spilled into its parking lot.

Store owner Balbir Atwal worked as an electronics salesman after emigrating from India in 1981, and he bought his first 7-Eleven franchise at age 27. Now he owns four. He said he has sold winning tickets before, but never like this one.