We have a winner, though he, she or they haven't stepped forward to claim the money yet. A $1 million Powerball ticket was sold for Wednesday’s drawing at an Omaha convenience store. Nobody won the jackpot so the big prize for Saturday’s drawing is currently $325 million.
That translates into a $202 million cash payout. There have been 13 consecutive drawings without a jackpot winner.
The $1 million winning ticket was bought at the Kwik Shop near 75th and Cass streets. The winner has 180 days to claim their prize. The winning numbers were 17, 28, 38, 39, 51, and the Powerball was 33.
This was the first automatic million dollar winning ticket in Nebraska since Powerball was upgraded on January 15th. Previously, the amount won for matching only the first five numbers was $200,000.
Erika Paymart manages Omaha 66 at 60th and F streets and said Friday clerks can tell when the Powerball jackpot grows from millions of dollars to nearly a king's ransom. “People start buying a larger number of tickets and they will go into pools with their co-workers or friends and you'll see a steady increase in sales."
Erika sees this as the calm before the storm, knowing that Powerball ticket sales can drive the convenience store's bottom line. “It can as much as double for us when the pot is this big."
The best part of lottery ticket sales may be the dreams she hears from customers purchasing tickets. “We're going to go on a trip, I'll take you out to dinner, you'll never have to work again. It is nice and I think most of them really mean it. I just tell them I hope they win, that would be great."