Most of us have fantasised about winning the lottery, but just imagine winning a jackpot without even buying a ticket?
Well, this is the incredible reality of one shop owner, whose store sold the staggering winning $2.04 billion Powerball Jackpot ticket in California.
The jackpot, as you can probably guess, was a record-breaking one and is not only the largest sum won from this particular draw, but the largest win in California lottery history.
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As reported by Fox11, while four people have won more than $1 billion in the lottery before, no one has ever won such a staggering amount of cash.
The huge sum began accumulating back in August of last year, beginning with a pot of $20 million that kept on growing after a number of winless months until the pot was finally scooped in November.
The currently anonymous winner won the life-changing sum after buying a ticket at Joe's Service Center in Altadena, Los Angeles.
This now-historic store is owned by Joseph Chahayed, who was also rewarded a retail selling bonus of $1 million for the role he played in facilitating the record-breaking win.
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"I would like to thank all the community (who) support me," the shop owner of more than 20 years said. "And I would... I encourage you to buy a ticket from this station... You're going to be a winner too."
Explaining what he plans to do with the money, he said: "I will share it with the family ... with my kids, my grandchildren. I have 11 grandchildren, and I have to share with them."
The shop owner's son, Danny, said he can't think of anyone more deserving of an unexpected windfall than his dad.
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"There's no one else who deserves it more than this man," he said. "He's worked hard his whole life. He deserves every bit of it."
The Multi-State Lottery Association said that the odds of matching all five numbers and the winning Powerball are 1 in 292.2 million.
The winner of the jackpot remained anonymous in the immediate aftermath of the win, but they are finally set to do so today (14 February).
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The California Lottery announced on Twitter: "We will show #CaliforniaEducation a whole lot of LOVE on #ValentinesDay when we unveil the sole winner of the record-breaking $2.04 billion #Powerball #jackpot from November."
While the overall jackpot was $2.04 billion, because it was won with a single ticket, the currently unidentified owner will receive $1.9 billion.
They have the option to receive the money in instalments or they can have a lump sum of $997.6 million.
Topics: National Lottery
Emma Guinness