According to the Florida Lottery, a jackpot-winning Powerball ticket was sold in Publix grocery store in Zephyrhills, Florida, a city Northeast of Tampa. The ticket was a “Quick Pick” and is worth $590.5 million. The ticket matched all five winning numbers (10, 13, 14, 22, 52) and the “Powerball,” which was 11.

“This is Florida’s sixth Powerball jackpot winner, adding to our record of the most Powerball winners of any state since the game was introduced in Florida in January 2009,” said Cynthia O’Connell, Florida Lottery Secretary. “It is also a big win for public education. This series of POWERBALL jackpot rollovers generated more than $40 million for the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund.”

The winner, who has not yet come forward, will now have 180 days from Saturday to claim the prize money. To claim the prize money as a lump sum, the winner must file a claim within 60 days.

According to the Illinois Lottery, Ricardo Cerezo had some old lottery tickets sitting in a cookie jar and decided to look through them. When he scanned them at a convenience store, he found out he had won $4,850,000. The quick pick ticket was for the February 2 Illinois Lottery drawing.

Cerezo was in disbelief, saying that he couldn’t believe that much money was sitting on his kitchen counter for months. He stated his intentions to pay off his mortgage, give money to his church, and give money to charity.

“It is very important to us that we use this money to help others,” said Cerezo.

This happy turn of events contrasts with recent troubles Cerezo and his family have faced. According to a report from an NBC news station in Chicago, Cerezo and his wife had last year made the decision to take their 14-year-old daughter off of life support. The girl, named Savannah, died as a result of seizures. The Cerezos had also fallen behind on their mortgage payments and were facing foreclosure before the cookie jar lotto ticket solved their money problems.

(Image courtesy the Illinois Lottery)

To put it simply, you have a much better chance of getting dealt a true Royal Flush than you do winning the lottery (1 in 649,740 versus 1 in 135-175 million). That being said, if you want a shot at the big money, you have to throw your hat into the ring. Furthermore, a 1 in 200 million chance is better than having a zero percent shot at the jackpot.

The next drawing is scheduled for Wednesday, May 21st, meaning you have some time to run out and get your Powerball tickets. If you don’t win, don’t fret. Be happy knowing you contributed to the next Powerball jackpot and go on about your day. Of course, if you win, all bets are off. You’ll probably singing the following song a great deal:

The Mega Millions jackpot has also been growing, and now sits at $154 million. There were also no Mega Millions jackpot winners for Tuesday’s drawing.

Though the odds of any one person winning are, obviously, low, stories constantly pop up to remind players that the odds of someone eventually winning are certain. Just this week, a California woman who accidentally purchased an extra SuperLotto Plus ticket won $14 million for her mistake.

Thuan Le, a single mother of four, told lottery officials last week that she normally purchases $4 of Powerball tickets and $1 of SuperLotto Plus tickets on a regular basis. On May 1, however, Le accidentally put $6 into the self-serve lottery machine at her local CVS store. With the extra dollar she purchased an extra SuperLotto Plus ticket, which ended up being worth $14 million.

Le reportedly ran screaming from the store when she verified her ticket numbers had won. She immediately called her sons and traveled to the California Lotto’s local district office to claim her $14 million prize. Le has stated that she plans to use the money to buy a house, travel, and visit her parents, who live in Vietnam.

“We thought she was joking, but we thought would she really joke like this?” said one of Le’s sons. “My older brother said, ‘yes, she would’.”

Wednesday’s winning numbers were: 9,19,31,56,59, Powerball: 2.

There were no winners for the $2 million Match 5 Power Play prize. The $1 million Match 5 prize saw winners in California, Connecticut and Florida.

There were a total of 664,631 winners in Wednesday’s drawing. $9,279,075 worth of non-jackpot prizes were won.

Odds of winning the jackpot, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association, are 1 in 175,223,510.

The next drawing is on Saturday.

As usual, people are talking about the drawing on Twitter:

Saturday’s winning numbers were: 6,8,30,39,48, Powerball: 20.

There were no winners for the $2 million Match 5 Power Play prize. The $1 million Match 5 prize saw winners in California, Illinois, Texas and Virginia.

For Saturday’s drawing, there were a total of 630,441 winners winning non-jackpot prizes totaling $10,089,088.

Odds of winning the jackpot, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association, are 1 in 175,223,510.

The next drawing is tonight.

As usual, people are talking about the drawing on Twitter:

Wednesday’s winning numbers were: 1, 36, 40, 52, 53, Powerball: 20.

There were no winners for the $2 million Match 5 Power Play prize, but there was one winner in Indiana for the $1 million Match 5 prize.

For Wednesday’s drawing, there were a total of 541,908 winners, winning a total of $4,464,128 in non-jackpot prizes.

Odds of winning the jackpot, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association, are 1 in 175,223,510.

The next drawing is on Saturday night.

While it’s nowhere close to the larger end of the pot spectrum, people are talking (and dreaming) on Twitter as usual: