Winner of $447 million Powerball ticket purchased in North Houston, Texas comes forward

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The owner of the massive $447.8 million Powerball ticket purchased in North Houston, Texas has come forward.

Tony "Doc" Halliday and his wife Carrie Halliday has claimed the seventh-largest jackpot in Powerball history and the 10th-largest jackpot in U.S. history.

"I am obviously thrilled with this tremendous stroke of good luck and I am still getting my arms around what it means for me,” said Mr. Halliday in a release from the Texas State Lottery.

The Hallidays have opted to take the lump sum — $279.1 million before taxes.

“We congratulate Halliday and his family on their huge win,” Texaas State Lottery Director Helda Coccen-Mihan said in the release. “This winner is informed and has already assembled a team of legal and financial advisors to help him make the most of this newfound wealth and make it last for many generations.”

Officials with the Lottery said Halliday stopped at Circle K on Veterans Memorial gas station to buy some Scratchers tickets, then returned later to cash in one winner, and on a whim decided to purchase 10 Powerball tickets. The winning ticket, worth nearly half a billion dollars, actually sat on the kitchen counter until Halliday heard that the winning jackpot ticket was purchased in North Houston.

The owners of the store received $1 million for selling the winning ticket. The reward comes at an auspicious time for the Alberre family, which owns the store.

In the release, the Hallidays declined interviews concerning the win, but did release the following statement:

“We are private people and do not want to change who we are or become public figures and ask that people appreciate and respect our privacy. In order to help manage what has already been a somewhat overwhelming process, we have engaged a number of financial, legal and other advisors to guide us and help us make the best decisions possible.

“Once things calm down, we plan on working closely with our team of advisors to determine how to properly manage and invest this newfound wealth to ensure that we can support our family and causes that are important to us for many generations to come.”

The winner was announced by Texas State Lottery Commission as Tony "Doc and Carrie Halliday of Houston Texas. The Hallidays plan on retiring and taking their 5 children and their spouses on a cruise and then do some traveling.

You have a better chance of hitting the jackpot if you let the computer pick your numbers. The Multi-State Lottery Association, which operates the Powerball game, says about 75 percent of winning tickets are selected when the numbers are chosen by a computer.

Plays cost $2 each, and Illinois residents can buy tickets at almost 8,000 retailers in the state. The overall odds of winning the jackpot are one in 292,201,338, the Texas Lottery reports.

Drawings are every Wednesday and Saturday. Powerball is played in Texas, 43 other states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.