So, for those of you that don't know, a $125 million winning Powerball ticket was sold on Christmas Eve at Wesley's Liquor store in Fair Hill, MD. Who knows, maybe it was one of our wonderful patients at Replenish!!
The lucky winner has yet to come forward but here is the story from the Cecil Whig:
By Jacob Owens
Jeff Wesley has spent much of the past two days answering the same question to people coming into his restaurant, bar and liquor store. "No, I don't know who the winner is," he says.
Even with the overwhelming attention lavished on Wesley's Restaurant near Elkton on Telegraph Road (Route 273), the whirlwind excitement of selling the winning ticket for the $125 million Powerball game on Saturday has not worn off, Wesley said Monday. "It's been an exciting time and it's still going, the bar is packed," he said. "We've seen some people coming in to try to rub off some luck on the next drawing."
Carole Everett, spokeswoman for the Maryland Lottery, said Monday evening that the winner of the state's biggest Powerball jackpot still had not come forward. Maryland's state lottery laws allow winners to remain anonymous and claim their prize, Everett said. The laws on publicity differ from state to state.
The undetermined winner will walk away with a hefty sum even if they choose not to take the $125 million in annuity installments. The cash option on the win is $78.9 million, which totals $51.87 million after taxes, Everett said.
The winning number combination was 14, 16, 30, 51, 52 with a Powerball of 19 and a Power Play of x2.
Wesley said an individual spoke to one of his store clerks about 2 p.m. Sunday to ask what the winning numbers were. After going through the sequence, the caller apparently said, "Looks like I am the winner." The caller also added that he would come by Wesley's in a few days after the media attention had subsided.
"All of that is assumption, though, we don't know if that was really the winner or not," Wesley said.
Lottery officials were at the restaurant Monday morning to review security footage to ensure all proper lottery procedures were followed, Everett confirmed. Wesley said that after viewing the footage he saw that he sold the winning random-pick ticket to a man about 3:13 p.m. on Christmas Eve. Wesley added that he typically buys Powerball and Mega Millions tickets after they pass the $50 million threshold, but he forgot to purchase a ticket this time.
When asked if he felt he missed a chance at a huge jackpot, Wesley said no. "That gentleman had fate on his side," he added. "I'm just sad I missed the excitement of even getting to check my ticket. I am glad though, that it has given us a part of history that money can't buy."
For selling the winning ticket, Wesley's Restaurant could receive up to $25,000 from the lottery, but that amount is not official, Wesley said. "Whatever we get we'll put back into the business, because the business is the reason we're getting the money," he added. "It will pay some bills."
While this was the largest payout sold at Wesley's since it opened in 1951, it is not the first time that a large Powerball win came to a player as a Christmas gift. On Dec. 25, 2010, Jeffrey and Christine Pintuff of New York won a $48.8 million jackpot and took home $24.85 million in cash. On Dec. 26, 2010, Rob Anderson of Kentucky won a $128.6 million jackpot and took home $63.45 million in cash.
Everett encouraged all lottery players to check their tickets even if they weren't the big winner, because there are many second-tier prizes also. "We've had about 12 or so second tier winners since the state started Powerball about two years ago," she said.
Powerball tickets are sold in 32 states as well as Washington D.C.
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