Powerball ticket worth a million sold at Elmont store

Santa Claus visited Long Island early on Wednesday at an Elmont store where a $1 million winning Powerball ticket was sold, the New York Lottery said.

Gnp Priyal Corp., which operates Cigar World at 201 Hempstead Tpke., sold the second-prize winning ticket for Wednesday night’s Powerball drawing. No one won the top prize, and the jackpot had grown to $1.5 billion by Thursday afternoon.

The ticket was one of three second-prize winning tickets sold in New York. The others were sold in Astoria, Queens, and upstate Newburgh.

The winning numbers drawn are 25, 33, 53, 62, 66, and the Powerball is 17.

Manager Kenny Patel, who has worked at the store since 2010, said he doesn’t recall ever selling a winning ticket of this magnitude.

"We were waiting for it, for a big winner to happen," Patel said.

An employee called Patel early Thursday to share the good news.

Many customers frequent the store to purchase lottery tickets, he said. Now that the Powerball has hit $1.5 billion, he hopes more will come to purchase tickets. "I hope this winning streak keeps going on," Patel said.

Gnp Priyal Corp. is a family-run convenience, lottery and cigar store, Patel said. Patel's uncle, Mahendra Patell, is the owner.

Saturday's drawing will be for one of the highest Powerball jackpots in history.

In September, two Powerball players in Missouri and Texas won the nearly $1.8 billion jackpot after a three-month drought of no winners.

Numbers are drawn from a field of one to 69. The red "Powerball" is drawn from a separate field of 1 to 26. The Powerball drawing is televised every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m.