15亿美元强力球乐透有三人中奖

The western U.S. state of California and the southeastern states of Tennessee and Florida all have winners in the record-breaking Powerball lottery with a jackpot of $1.5 billion.

A spokesman for the California lottery, Alex Traverso, said late Wednesday that a winning ticket had been purchased at a 7-11 convenience store in Chino Hills, an affluent suburb of Los Angeles. The locations of the winning ticket sales in Tennessee and Florida were not yet known. No names or other details about the winners have been released.

The odds of a winning ticket were estimated at one in 292.2 million.

Multiple Powerball winners must share equally in the prize money. They can take a lump sum, subject to hefty tax withholdings, or a yearly annuity for 29 years, which is taxed as it is doled out.

Most of the 50 U.S. states allow lotteries to operate; but in the six that do not, much business was generated along the borders with states that do allow the sale of lottery tickets.

Tickets were even being sold in China, thanks to brokers on the Internet. It was not clear how any Chinese winners would transfer their winnings to a Chinese bank.

The store selling the winning ticket became a tourist attraction Wednesday night, as onlookers and news crews crowded into the parking lot. The store will win a $1 million prize for selling a winning ticket.

加利福尼亚州乐透发言人特拉弗索星期三晚间说，中奖彩票是在奇诺岗一家7-11连锁店售出的，奇诺岗位于洛杉矶郊区，属富裕地区。田纳西州和佛罗里达州获奖彩票的售出地点还不清楚。目前尚未公布有关中奖者的任何细节。

据估算，本次强力球的中奖几率为2亿9220万分之一。

如有超过一人中奖，则奖金由中奖者们均分。他们可以在扣除高额税金后一次领取，也可以分29年逐年领取，逐年交税。

美国50个州里大多数州都允许乐透博彩业的运作，六个禁止博彩业的州里的居民只好跨过州界，到临近允许博彩业的州去买彩票。

通过网上代理商，美国乐透彩票甚至远销中国，但不清楚中国公民一旦中奖，会通过何种方式把奖金转入中国的银行帐号。

星期三晚上，那家售出中奖彩票的7-11便利店俨然成了旅游景点，停车场里都挤满了看热闹的人和电视台新闻摄像组。这家商店因为售出大奖彩票，将获得100万美元奖金。