Wanted: $1 million Powerball winner

CATSKILL — There’s a new millionaire in town.

One lucky person has won $1 million in the national Powerball game from a winning ticket purchased in the village.

The ticket was sold at Smokers Choice — a tobacco shop located at 18 Boulevard Ave., near the Walmart Supercenter. The company is calling for the lucky winner to come forward to start the process of collecting the prize.

No one had come forward as of Friday evening.

The ticket was a state lottery Powerball winner of $1,000,004 that was purchased between Jan. 14 and Jan. 17. Smokers Choice could not pin down the exact date and time when the ticket was purchased, said Denice Davis, the company’s marketing director.

The winning numbers, which were drawn Wednesday, are 3-33-37-51-57. The Powerball number is 21.

To play Powerball, if the five numbers on the ticket plus the Powerball number match the six numbers drawn, then the ticketholder wins or shares the grand prize jackpot. A ticketholder has a 1 in 11,688,053 chance of matching five numbers and winning the million-dollar prize, according to nylottery.ny.gov.

“As a lottery vendor for many years, Smokers Choice loves to see happy smiles when our customers win,” said Smokers Choice Vice President Doug Nolan. “Today, however, we are thrilled to announce that one of our customers is the lucky winner of a $1 million Powerball drawing.”

If the Powerball jackpot is not won in any drawing, the first prize pool money is carried over and added to the next jackpot.

Winners have the choice of taking a cash payment at the time of the prize claim or within 60 days after they are entitled to the prize. All Powerball prizes over $50,000 and all prizes of $5,000 or more over 180 days or older will be held pending additional security verification as required by the Multi-State Lottery Association, according to nylottery.ny.gov.

“We have not yet identified the lucky ticketholder, so we ask all of our customers to check their tickets, because, hey, you never know — it could be you,” Nolan said.