Just, wow.
Three million-dollar-winning Powerball tickets were sold in New York for the most recent drawing on Monday, according to lottery officials. All three of them were sold at the same Yonkers gas station.
The New York Lottery said in a statement that all three million-dollar winners, second prize in the Powerball game, were sold at V & C Taneja, a convenience store adjacent to a BP station at 600 Nepperhan Avenue.
We all know the odds of any one of us hitting the jackpot at any given time are abysmal: 1 in 292.2 million. We don’t know the odds of three second-prize tickets being sold at the same New York store for the same drawing, but we bet those aren’t very good either.
The next drawing is Wednesday night, with an estimated $320 million jackpot ($152.2 million cash value). People probably figure that place is out of luck.
Or is it?
The manager of V & C Taneja says the store doesn’t know who purchased the winning tickets. They don’t believe they get a cash prize for selling the three second-prize winners, but they are happy for their role in the winnings.
The largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history stands at $2.04 billion and was won by a single Powerball ticket in California on Nov. 7, 2022. The winner, Edwin Castro, came forward in early 2023 after months of speculation.
Powerball is played in 45 states plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are held at 10:59 p.m. ET at the Florida Lottery studio in Tallahassee.