Some 67 millionaires have been minted by the Powerball lottery over the last two months, even though no one has scored the record jackpot of $1.4 billion yet.
The winnings are the result of second-tier prizes often coming from people who match all five white balls without the red Powerball. Since Nov. 7, 59 winning tickets scored a $1 million-payday and eight winners cashed in for
$2 million each, according to CNN Money.
Those people who purchased a Power Play ticket, which costs an extra dollar, and matched all five of the white ball numbers also received the $2 million payoffs.
One of the second-tier winners, 56-year-old Jeffery Grayson, of Rochester Hills, Michigan, won $1 million by matching the five white ball numbers in
Saturday's drawing, according to Powerball officials.
"We were standing in the checkout line at about 8 p.m. when my wife, Linda, reminded me that we needed get our Powerball tickets," Grayson told lottery officials. "I stepped over to the service counter and bought two tickets, but only gave Linda one of the tickets."
"Linda told me she checked the ticket and it wasn't a winner, but that someone who bought a ticket at the Rochester Hills Meijer had won $1 million," he continued. "As soon as I heard that, my heart started racing."
The El Paso Times reported Monday that the winner of a $1 million Powerball prize in that area over the weekend has not yet claimed the money.
That ticket and two others in Texas, sold in Cove and Austin, also had all five of the winning white ball numbers over the weekend but not the Powerball number.
The next drawing for the $1.4 billion jackpot comes Wednesday, and the odds of winning hover around 1 in 292 million, according to CNN Money. Powerball tickets are $2 each and players pick five separate numbers between 1 and 69, and a sixth Powerball number between 1 and 26.
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