Union City store celebrates lotto win as Powerball jackpot soars to $700 million

UNION CITY, Calif. (KGO) -- For the eighteenth time in a row, no one matched all six Powerball numbers. That means the next jackpot is a number we've never seen this high -- $700 million. Wednesday's numbers were 2, 11, 47, 62 and 63, and the Powerball was 17.

READ MORE: No Powerball winner, jackpot now estimated at $700 million

Already, someone in Union City has more than a million reasons to celebrate.

Almost winning is still pretty good when you're talking lottery tickets. Perry's Liquor Store in Union City will receive about $10,000 for selling a Powerball ticket that almost won.

"Last night one of my customers text messaged me and said, 'You sold winning ticket,'" said store owner Ankit Vora. "I couldn't believe her at first. She was like, 'No, check the website.' I said, 'You know what, April Fools is not here yet.'"

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The ticket had five of the six winning numbers. It's worth about $1.4 million.

Customers who didn't even win still felt excited for the store.

"It feels good and it's not even mine!" said Hayward resident Manuel Feliciano. "But yeah it feels good, it's nice. It's a blessing. I got my ticket!"

The store owner has not heard from the winner yet. But Vora is already thinking about how to spend his prize. He says 25 percent of it will go to charity.

"We believe in karma, what goes around comes around, so why not," he said.

Since no one won the Powerball jackpot Wednesday night, everyone is now focused on Saturday's drawing. Vora plans to bring in extra employees to handle the demand for tickets. People were already buying them Thursday morning with some hoping the store's luck would rub off on them.

"The odds are still the same," said Union City resident Jay Ryan. "Maybe a bit luckier, but your odds are still the same. If luck is on your side than luck is on your side."

The store has come this close before, so the owner is hoping that is a good sign.

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"Last year we had a person winning as well with five numbers on Mega," said Vora. "This year Powerball five numbers miss by one number. So maybe it's coming."

Saturday would be a good time for that luck to hit because the jackpot is at $700 million and sales could push it higher. If the winning ticket comes from here, the store gets $1 million.

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