The Story of the $338 Million Powerball Beer Run Will Warm Your Heart
It's not even lunch time and already this Tuesday is stressful — what with the Supreme Court tension and North Korea wanting to meet us at the flagpole at 3 p.m. It's all a bit much, really. So you should probably meet Pedro Quezada, the immigrant father from New Jersey who just won the $338.3 million lotto jackpot.
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The New York Post reports Quezada is a 44-year-old bodega owner who lives in Passaic, New Jersey, and every day after work he heads to Eagle Liquors to buy a few bottles of Corona and a lottery ticket. Last Saturday he made the best purchase of his entire life.
The Dominican-born Quezada beat the 175-million-to-1 odds when he bought the winning ticket Saturday at Eagle Liquors. Using the Quick Pick option, he hit all five numbers and the Powerball.
Quezada doesn't even have lucky numbers he chooses every time. He got the only winning ticket in the 42 states that sell Powerball tickets by letting the computer choose his fate. That, friends, is the best kind of luck.
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Even Quezada's neighbors are excited for him and his family. "This is super for all of us on this block," Eladia Vazquez, a longtime neighbor of the Quezada family, told the Associated Press. They "deserve it because they are hardworking people," she says.
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So, what kind of payout is Quezada looking at from a $338.3 million after the government has their say? The AP has the details of how it should break down:
The numbers drawn Saturday were 17, 29, 31, 52, 53 and Powerball 31. A lump sum payout would be $221 million, or about $152 million after taxes. It's the fourth-largest jackpot in Powerball history.
Yep, that should be enough to buy a new house.
