Check your tickets. A winning Powerball game was sold in South Carolina
Two grand prize winning tickets were sold prior to last Saturday’s Powerball drawing for a $1.78 billion jackpot, and somebody who purchased a ticket in South Carolina was one number away from making it three ultimate winners.
Although the Powerball game sold at a Columbia gas station/convenience store didn’t completely match the winning tickets sold in Missouri and Texas for the second-largest prize in Powerball history, it was close enough to merit a $100,000 jackpot for the ticket buyer, South Carolina Education Lottery officials said Monday in a news release.
Now the search is underway for the winner.
The six-figure winning Powerball game was sold at the Cheapway at 1854 Shop Road. That’s about 1.5 miles from Williams-Brice Stadium, where the USC Gamecocks football team was also a winner Saturday night.
The winning numbers in Saturday’s Powerball drawing were 11, 23, 44, 61, 62 and Powerball: 17.
The odds of matching four white numbers and the red Powerball number are 1-in-913,129, officials said.
Because the winner added the Power Play option for an additional dollar, the $50,000 prize doubled to $100,000 when a “2” multiplier was drawn, according to the release.
The winner has 180 days to claim the prize, according to lottery officials.
The winner will be allowed to retain some privacy, as South Carolina is one of 11 states — along with Arizona, Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, Texas and Virginia — that allow lottery winners to remain anonymous.
“Sign the back of your ticket and put it in a safe location until you’re ready to come forward to claim the prize,” lottery officials said.
For complete information on claiming prizes, go to sceducationlottery.com.
When the ticket is claimed, the Cheapway is expected to receive a commission for selling the winning game.
In addition to the $100,000 winning game, three other Powerball tickets sold in South Carolina matched enough numbers to each win $50,000 payouts from Saturday’s drawing, officials said. Those tickets were sold in Greer, Moncks Corner and Surfside Beach, according to the release.
Because there were grand prize winners last Saturday, the jackpot for Monday’s Powerball drawing has been reset to $20 million.
Anyone looking to buy a ticket must make a purchase by 9:59 p.m. Monday for the 10:59 p.m. drawing. Tickets are $2, and could cost more with additional options.
The odds of winning Powerball’s grand prize are 1-in-293 million.
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