Minnesota Causes Delay In National Powerball Drawing

ROSEVILLE, MN — U.S. Powerball players went to bed Monday without knowing the winner of the massive $2.04 billion jackpot, thanks to Minnesota.

The frenzied pace of ticket-buying didn’t "break" the Powerball Monday night. However, game officials said the delay came after one of the participating state lotteries was unable to process its sales data.

"Powerball requires all 48 participating lotteries to submit their sales and play data prior to the winning numbers being selected," the Multi-State Lottery Association said in a statement. The organization declined to say in which state the delay occurred.

However, the Minnesota State Lottery later fessed up to accidentally causing the delay.

"After unprecedented lottery interest, Minnesota’s sales verification system caused a processing delay on Monday," the Minnesota Lottery said in a statement.

"The delay was necessary to confirm the Powerball drawing could be conducted securely and accurately. At no time was the integrity of the process compromised."

A Powerball winner came the next day, however.

At least one player bought a winning ticket in the $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot ticket in the latest drawing, lottery officials in California said Tuesday.

The player who bought a ticket in Altadena matched the winning numbers — 10, 33, 41, 47, and 56, with a Powerball of 10. It was the largest prize in U.S. lottery history and only the fourth time in the 30-year history of the game that the jackpot has crossed $1 billion.