LONACONING, MD (AP) – The $ 731.1 million jackpot-winning Powerball ticket was sold in a struggling coal mining town whose highest pre-fame claim was the hometown of the legendary baseball Lefty Grove, the Maryland Lottery announced Thursday.
Coney Market, a store in Lonaconing, Allegany County, will receive a $ 100,000 bonus from the Maryland Lottery to sell tickets to the fifth largest lottery prize in US history.
It had been more than four months since anyone had won Powerball, allowing the game’s jackpot to grow so much. An even bigger Mega Millions jackpot will be grabbed on Friday night.
Only who will collect the prize can never be known: Maryland is one of the states that allows winners to remain anonymous. But keeping quiet about such a huge giant could prove difficult if the ticket was bought by a local. Lonaconing is a city with about 300 families that is far from the beaten track, with a poverty rate of over 22%, well above the national average.
“We’re really happy for someone,” Richard Ravenscroft, the store’s owner, told the Associated Press over the phone. “We don’t know yet who he is.”
Coney Market, named after what the locals call their city, is housed in an independent building more than a century old, along Route 36 in Maryland. It is a place where people can eat burgers and underwater sandwiches in a small relaxation area that attracts the usual part.
A former coal mining town, Lonaconing does not have much money. Ravenscroft said there were still some strip operations in the area, although this was ending due to environmental concerns, and the remaining plant, a pulp and paper company, was recently closed after undergoing a series of acquisitions. Another company has come that intends to hire about 200 people to make something out of wood chips, he said.
“I can’t wait to congratulate the person. I just hope that everyone who won it will use it wisely and that other people will benefit from it, ”he said.
Ravenscroft, in turn, wants to expand the store’s kitchen and serve real meals such as mashed potatoes and sauce. Maybe the bonus can help.
Lonaconing’s biggest previous winner was Robert Moses Grove, known as Lefty Grove, who played 17 seasons in the major leagues, nine with the Philadelphia Athletics and eight with the Red Sox. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1947 and died in 1975.
The Powerball jackpot came just one day after no one won the $ 970 million Mega Millions, the third largest prize in US history.
The winning numbers for Wednesday night’s Powerball draw were: 40-53-60-68-69 and a Powerball of 22.
It was the first time that both jackpots in the lottery exceeded $ 700 million. The biggest prize was a $ 1.58 billion Powerball jackpot won by three people in 2016.
No one had won any of the jackpots since mid-September, allowing the prizes to rise steadily for months. Such a long stretch without a winner is rare, but it also reflects the incredibly low chances of winning – 1 in 292.2 million for Powerball and 1 in 302.5 million for Mega Millions.
The prizes listed are for the winners who choose an annuity option, paid over 30 years. Most of the winners are eligible for cash prizes, which would be $ 716.3 million for Mega Millions and $ 546.8 million for Wednesday’s Powerball. After winning the Powerball, the new jackpot has a cash value of 15 million dollars.
These awards would also be subject to federal taxes, and most states would also receive a discount.
Mega Millions and Powerball are both played in 45 states, as well as in Washington, DC and the US Virgin Islands. Powerball is also offered in Puerto Rico.