After a Rhode Island Powerball winner and New York lottery winner both scored major jackpots, Wednesday's Powerball winning numbers has finally grown to an impressive amount again. The March 7, 2012 Powerball grand prize is worth an estimated $60,000,000 annuity, or a one-time cash prize of $37,100,000. How many tickets did you buy for tonight's lottery drawing?
Photo credit: jdurham from morguefile.com
$14,000,000 West Virginia Powerball Winners Seven Times Over
If you're scratching your head thinking these Powerball winnings look rather odd, relax, you're not seeing things. Best friends, Michael Shaver and Ronald Simmons, both Vietnam War Veterans from Weston, West Virginia, must have been grinning from ear to ear when they showed up at a press conference at the West Virginia Lottery headquarters on Monday. That's because they just collected $14,000,000 in Powerball winnings by claiming seven (7) tickets with the same winning lottery numbers on them! How is that possible you ask?
The West Virginia Powerball winners matched five out of six Powerball winning numbers (1, 04, 11, 23, 26), but not the Powerball number (14) for the second-tier prize. Thing is, Michael Shaver and Ronald Simmons played the same numbers seven times—and won seven times over! What's the chance of that happening?
Shaver and Simmons told West Virginia Lottery officials, "We have been friends since grade school and we both have children named after each other. We have played the lottery every week for 25 years and have always played with different birthday combinations of our children and we always play the Power Play option."
The standard payout for this size wager is normally $1,000,000, but since the two always spend an extra dollar on the Power Play option, each ticket was doubled to $2,000,000. If you do the math right, that's a total of $14,000,000 in lottery prize money!
The Powerball winners purchased their winning tickets at Prima 7-Eleven #5706 on 3rd Street in Weston, West Virginia, for the February 29th drawing. It's a win-win for both the winners and the store who also stands to make out pretty good on the deal—$100,000 to be exact!
You're probably wondering what on earth these two men are planning to spend all their money on? After helping out their families, Shaver said, "We will use some of this to help our fellow vets." Congratulations, guys. You deserve it!
What Time is Tonight's Powerball Drawing?
The next Powerball drawing is scheduled for Wednesday, March 7, 2012 at 10:59 p.m. ET. The Powerball game is played in 42 states, Washington D.C. and the US Virgin Islands. The Powerball winning numbers are drawn live Wednesday and Saturday evenings. You can catch the live drawing on select TV stations around the country, or by viewing Power Ball Live online, also at 10:59 p.m.
Please Play Responsibly
Remember, playing the lottery should be fun, but sometimes too much lottery fun can be addictive and could ruin lives. Please play responsibly, and don't spend more than you're willing to lose.
The most recent Powerball results for the Saturday, March 3, 2012 drawing, were 29, 30, 45, 47, 49, and the Powerball number was 35. There were no Powerball jackpot winners for this drawing.
Make sure to check the comments section at the bottom of this page shortly after the drawing for Wednesday's Powerball results. The New Jersey Lottery says, "Give Your Dreams a Chance!"
See all Donna's Mega Millions results and Powerball results at Gather.com.
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