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Attorney Kurt Panouses publicly advised the mysterious recent winner of the $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot to find a "lottery lawyer" after cashing in.
“I ask the clients, ‘Where do you see yourself a year from now? Who would you have helped out a year from now?’,” Panouses told KOIN in Portland, where the winning ticket was purchased last week. “Maybe we need to incorporate those people in the win, so instead of there being just one winner, one individual, maybe we have a group which also goes along the lines of being able to be anonymous, because you would have one representative for the group.”
The player, who was the first to win the Powerball jackpot since the $842.2 million drawing on New Year's Day, will not be named publicly until Oregon Lottery officials can ensure their safety, as well as their staggering payout. The $1.3 billion jackpot winning ticket was purchased at a Plaid Pantry convenience store in a Portland neighborhood ahead of last Saturday's (April 6) drawing, the Oregon Lottery confirmed in a statement obtained by the New York Post.
“This is an unprecedented jackpot win for Oregon Lottery,” Oregon Lottery Director Mike Wells said. “We’re taking every precaution to verify the winner before awarding the prize money.”
“No one in Oregon has ever won a prize on this scale, and it’s a very exciting for our staff and players.”
Saturday's Powerball jackpot was the fourth largest drawing in the game's history and eighth largest drawing in U.S. lottery history. The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are reported to be 1 in 292.2 million, according to Powerball.com.
The Powerball jackpot previously reset after one player in Grand Blanc, Michigan, won the $842.2 million drawing on January 1 and continued to grow after 41 consecutive drawings without a jackpot winner. One player in Frazier Park, California, won the $1.73 billion Powerball drawing on October 11, which was the second-largest drawing in the game's history and the second-largest in U.S. history.
One player in California matched all six numbers to win the $2.04 billion ($997.6 million) jackpot on November 7, the largest jackpot offered in U.S. lottery history, according to the official Powerball website. Powerball has had jackpots exceeding $1 billion five times.
The odds of winning a Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million regardless of the size of the drawing. Mega Millions games have exceeded $1 billion six times, which includes its largest offering, a $1.603 billion jackpot that was one by a player in Florida on August 8.
Both jackpots increase during each following game until there's a jackpot winning ticket matching all six numbers drawn, which includes the additional Mega Millions Gold Ball or Powerball in each respective game.