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Powerball Winner Revealed: Mavis L. Wanczyk Of Massachusetts Sole Winner Of $758.7 Million Lottery Jackpot

By Heather Tooley
Published on: 07:08 PST, Aug 24, 2017

Mavis L. Wanczyk of Massachusetts is the sole Powerball winner of the $758 million lottery jackpot drawing on August 23. Her identity was disclosed sooner than most winners of big payouts in Powerball or Mega Millions jackpots.

TMZ reports that Wanczyk is a mother of two and single. She quit her job Thursday morning after matching all six numbers to the Powerball drawing Wednesday night. According to the report, Wanczyk worked at a medical center.

Lottery officials estimate that Mavis L. Wanczyk will pocket $336,350,655 after taxes in a lump sum payment. The 53-year-old Powerball winner purchased her ticket at a Pride Station and Store in Chicopee, Massachusetts. She now holds the largest single jackpot winning for Powerball. Wanczyk picked her own numbers by using birthdays of family members. The lucky numbers were 6, 7, 16, 23, 26, and a Powerball number of 4.

In a press conference, Mavis called the win a “pipe dream” and that buying the lottery ticket was a “chance I had to take.” ABC News reports that the store where the Powerball winner bought the ticket is 90 miles west of Boston near the place she worked. The owner of the Pride Station and Store in Chicopee who won $50,000 for selling the jackpot ticket and plans to donate it to several local charities.

Mavis, who has a 31-year-old daughter and a 26-year-old son, said she was in shock after learning that she was the August 23 Powerball winner. A co-worker of Wanczyk’s was by her side when she checked off the winning numbers.

“I couldn’t drive anywhere, I couldn’t do anything,” Wanczyk told reporters.

Mavis Wanczyk has worked at Mercy Medical Center for 32 years, and being the latest Powerball winner will allow her to retire, NBC Boston reports. Mavis, who purchased the ticket “just for luck,” said the first thing she’s going to do is “just relax” and “hide in my bed.”

The odds of matching all six winning numbers were astronomical — only one in 292.2 million.

There were some winners of the lesser prizes that were nothing to sneeze at. Apparently, there were 9,397,723 other players who won amounts totaling $134,981,575, with California boasting the most winners with 1,172,477. Moreover, there were more Massachusetts winners who held Powerball tickets worth $1 million; one ticket was sold at Handy Variety in Watertown and the other at Sandy’s Variety in Dorchester.

In January of 2016, had the largest Powerball jackpot worth $1.6 billion and was shared between three winners. The current Powerball jackpot will start over at the $40 million. Mavis L. Wanczyk won the second largest Powerball jackpot in lottery history.

[Featured Image by Dennizn/Shutterstock]

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