Somebody in California won the $1.08 billion Powerball! He or she got all of the white balls (7, 10, 11, 13, 24) and the red ball (24). Due to all of the folks buying tickets on Wednesday night, the Powerball went up from $1 billion to $1.08 billion. Fortunately for the lucky fella or gal who bought his or her ticket from Las Palmita LA-Mini Mart, he or she is the lucky winner.

The owner of Las Palmita LA-Mini Mart, Maria Leticia Menjivar, is also a lucky winner because she gets a cool million for selling the $1.08 billion ticket to the lucky fella or gal. “We are so happy. We are more happy for the winner,” is what the Tony Cabrera of abc7 News in LA quoted Maria Leticia Menjivar’s daughter, Angie, as saying. And we are all happy for the winner!

Speaking of the winner and happiness, the winner has the choice of getting a cash payout of $558.1 million or getting the $1.08 billion spread out over time. The way the latter works is that the winner gets some money off the winning ticket and then the winner gets paid, over a 29-year time period. Each year, the payments will increase by 5%.

The thing the winner has to be mindful of is the fact that the money he or she gets, via the cash payment or yearly pay, is money that Uncle Sam hasn’t taken out.

Taxes is what the winner has to pay on his or her own.