Wealth

NJ restaurant workers in Powerball false alarm

New Jersey workers win lottery... or did they?
VIDEO1:4501:45
New Jersey workers win lottery... or did they?

So close... but not close enough.

A group of workers at a New Jersey restaurant thought all their Christmases had come at once Saturday when their joint ticket matched the winning Powerball numbers, according to NBC New York.

A video clip released online shows the staff at Grissini's Restaurant in Englewood Cliffs wildly celebrating after reading off the numbers for one of the ticket they had got for Saturday's $900 million draw. One employee apparently quit their job on the spot.

The jackpot prize, handwritten on a Powerball sign, is displayed at a corner store selling lottery tickets along the U.S. Mexico border in San Ysidro, California, January 12, 2016.
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One small problem: The winning numbers they called out were last Wednesday's -- not Saturday's.

The employees' ticket, which was purchased Saturday and included numbers 2, 11, 47, 62, 63 and a Powerball of 17, was an exact match for Wednesday's $528 million prize. No one won Wednesday's jackpot, which meant that the $900 million total has swelled to $1.5 billion after Saturday's drawing.

While the video shows plenty of hugs, cheers and whooping, cameras were not there to witness the employees' dawning realization that they would all have to turn up for work the following day.

You can read the full report here.

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