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While eyes nationwide were locked on the news Saturday evening that the Powerball jackpot estimated at $1.8 billion would be split among two winners in Missouri and Texas, one ticket sold in the Tri-Valley matched five of the six final numbers and is worth nearly $1.6 million.
The California Lottery confirmed that two Powerball tickets across the state won $1,564,348 each, including one sold at the Circle K convenience store at 7850 Amador Valley Blvd. in Dublin.
The other seven-figure winner in the Golden State was sold at Love’s Travel Stop in Tehachapi in Kern County southeast of Bakersfield, lottery officials said. The pair were among just over 1.5 million Powerball tickets in California that won some amount of money, large or small, in Saturday night’s draw that ultimately awarded the second highest jackpot in U.S. history.
The winning numbers were 11, 23, 44, 61, 62, Power 17. The Dublin and Tehachapi tickets hit the first five numbers but failed to match the red Powerball number in the sixth slot.
The lucky local Circle K is the convenience store adjacent to the Exxon gas station at the southwest corner of Amador Valley Boulevard and Regional Street.
The California Lottery noted that Powerball ticket sales during the three-month period without a jackpot winner – which saw the pot grow from the $20 million starting amount up to $1.8 billion — raised more than $135 million in supplemental public education funding for the state.
“Giant jackpots like the one we were all watching these past few weeks help us to build excitement in California – not only around the possibility of winning millions or billions, but also the natural benefit they bring when more people play,” California Lottery spokesperson Carolyn Becker said in a press release.. “Larger prize pots attract more players, giving our sales a boost, and in turn – benefitting public education even more.”
Officials cited the community of Tehachapi and its high school athletics program among those that have gotten a direct boost from lottery funding.
