"It's great for the industry, it's great for Powerball and it's great for Rhode Island," said Gerald S. Aubin, director of the state's lottery.
The lump sum cash payout will be $210 million, which is the highest ever for Powerball, officials said. The jackpot was the third largest in Powerball history and the largest ever won in Rhode Island, officials said.
The jackpot is the sixth largest in U.S. history, lottery spokeswoman Melissa Juhnowski said. The top jackpot was a $390 million Mega Millions prize won in March 2007, she said.
The winning numbers were 1-10-37-52-57, Powerball 11.
The winning ticket was among three tickets with random numbers purchased on a $9 wager, officials said.
A Stop & Shop supermarket in North Providence sold a ticket that won $10,000 in Saturday's drawing, officials said.
The supermarket is happy about the windfall the winner or winners will receive, a spokeswoman said.
"We're certainly excited and we're certainly happy for that lucky customer," spokeswoman Suzi Robinson said in a telephone interview.
There is no bonus for the supermarket for selling the winning ticket, Aubin said. Instead of paying out a bonus, he said, Powerball retailers in Rhode Island get eight cents on the dollar for every ticket sold.
The win means Rhode Island gets a little more than $12 million in taxes on the prize, Aubin said.
The jackpot win is the first since the ticket price increased from $1 to $2 last month. Rising sales nearly doubled the jackpot from $173.5 million on Feb. 1.
Powerball is played in 42 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The chance of matching all five numbers and the Powerball number is about 1 in 175 million.
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ONLINE:
Multi-State Lottery Association: http://www.powerball.com
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