$1 billion Powerball jackpot ticket sold in Los Angeles; 3 worth $449K sold in Bay Area

LOS ANGELES (KGO) -- The winning ticket in Wednesday night's $1 billion Powerball drawing was sold in downtown Los Angeles.

The ticket was sold at Las Palmitas Mini Market, located at 1205 Wall Street.

There were also several Match 5 winners in California including three in the Bay Area, each worth $448,750.

The one was sold at 7-Eleven located on 1590 Franklin St. in Santa Clara. Another was sold at Safeway on 4950 Mission St. in San Francisco. The third one was sold at Steve's Liquors on 583 W. Tennyson Rd. in Hayward.

RELATED: Powerball jackpot hits $1B: Expert talks best practices when choosing lottery numbers

ABC7 News went to Mike's Liquor in San Jose where they have sold more than $400,000 worth of winning tickets from the California Lottery.

Dorin Alexander bought one of each - Powerball, California Lottery and Mega Millions tickets.

"Hopefully it's a winner cause they've won here before so we're hoping," Alexander said.

This was her fourth store purchasing tickets - she's now on her way to two more.

MORE: 2 Mega Millions tickets worth $287,000 each sold in Bay Area

San Jose resident Steve Nguyen bought one Powerball ticket.

"I just buy one number, I figure if I'm going to win I'm going to win it! If I buy 10, you know the percentage is still about the same," Nguyen said.

To get into the winner circle Jared James, founder of Lotto Edge says when picking your numbers, avoid only calendar dates - like birthdays or anniversaries.

"We found that only about 3% of the time will all the numbers fall within a calendar date, so you want to use the entire play slip and spread your numbers out," James said.

James also says whether you choose numbers or let the computer pick them - you have the equal chance of hitting the jackpot.

The Mega Millions jackpot is estimated to jump to $720 million this Friday.

If you're on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live