Pulaski gas station owner reacts to selling $161 million Powerball ticket

PULASKI, Va. (WDBJ) - One lucky person in one of our hometowns won millions of dollars with a lottery ticket.

Gill Brothers in Pulaski County sold a winning Powerball ticket for 161 million dollars.

Virginia Lottery says this is the fourth-largest prize ever won in the Commonwealth.

This is the second time a winning Powerball ticket has been sold in Virginia.

WDBJ7 talked to the gas station’s owner about the historic ticket. He says he’s owned the gas station for a year. When he first heard about the news, he thought it was a joke.

“Well I think we deserve more (wins) but at the same time, we’re so happy for our customers. Whoever won it, won it here in Pulaski County in our itty bitty store,” said Andy Gill.

The winning numbers were 10-16-18-40-66, and the Powerball number was 16.

Officials are still trying to locate the winner.

Following is the text of the Virginia Lottery news release:

Powerball ticket bought in Pulaski County wins estimated $161 million jackpot

Who is Virginia’s Powerball jackpot winner?

One ticket matched all six numbers in the March 4 Powerball drawing. That ticket is now worth an estimated $161 million.

The winning ticket was bought at Gill Brothers, located at 4442 Cleburne Blvd. in Dublin, VA. The question now is: Who bought that ticket? Who is Virginia’s next multi-millionaire.

The winning numbers in Saturday’s Powerball drawing were 10-16-18-40-66, and the Powerball number 16.

This is the fourth-largest prize ever won in a Virginia Lottery game. It’s the second time a Powerball jackpot has been won in Virginia.

Whoever has the ticket now has 180 days from the drawing to claim the prize. That person or persons will have a choice: either take the full jackpot amount, before taxes, in annual payments over 30 years, or take a one-time cash option of an estimated $81,9 million before taxes.

Powerball drawings are held at 10:59 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. The odds of matching all six numbers to win the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million. The odds of winning any Powerball prize are 1 in 25. For more information on Powerball, visit the game’s site.

All Virginia Lottery profits go to K-12 education in Virginia. In Fiscal Year 2022, the Lottery raised more than $779 million for K-12 education, making up approximately 10 percent of Virginia’s total K-12 school budget.

Copyright 2023 WDBJ. All rights reserved.