Fortune Cookie Payout
The Powerball drawing on March 30, 2005 produced 110 second-prize winners. The total payout to these winners was $19,400,000, with 89 winners each receiving $100,000. The other 21 winners received $500,000, as they were Power Play selections.
MUSL officials initially suspected fraud or a reporting error. However, all 110 winners had played numbers from fortune cookies made by Wonton Food Inc. of Long Island City, New York. The factory had printed the numbers "22, 28, 32, 33, 39, 40" on thousands of fortunes. The "40" in the fortune did not match the Powerball number of "42." None of the employees of Wonton Food played those numbers; at the time, the closest jurisdiction with Powerball was Connecticut. Since the ticket holders had won as result of a coincidence rather than foul play, the payouts were made.
Had these 110 winners shared the then $25 million jackpot, each ticket would have been worth about $227,272 annuity or $122,727 cash.
The fortune on the inspiring fortune cookie read: "All the preparation you've done will finally be paying off."
Read more about this topic: Powerball
Famous quotes containing the words fortune and/or cookie:
“Honesty, by evil fortune tried,
Finds in adversity the seed of praise.”
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
“Living by basic good-mothering guidelines enables a mom to blend the responsibilities of parenthood with its joys; to know when to stand her ground and when to be flexible; and to absorb the lessons of the parenting gurus while also trusting her inner voice when it reasons that another cookie isn’t worth fighting over, or that her child won’t suffer irreparable trauma if, once in a while, Mom puts her own needs first.”
—Sue Woodman (20th century)