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Restaurant mistakenly celebrates Powerball win

Posted at 4:19 PM, Jan 12, 2016
and last updated 2016-01-12 20:46:24-05

By now, it’s obvious that no one won during Saturday’s record Powerball draw. But for at least a few glorious minutes, employees at Grissini's Restaurant in Englewood Cliffs, N.J. thought they had hit the jackpot.

Like millions of others, the employees at Grissini’s had gone in together in for workplace lottery pool. On Saturday, they gathered in their restaurant to watch the drawings.

Bartender Charlie Poveromo read the winning numbers aloud, all of which matched one of the Grissini tickets. What he didn’t realize was that he was reading the winning numbers from the previous draw.

The restaurant erupted. Employees screamed and hugged. Tears of joy were shed. One member of the staff even reportedly quit his job.

It’s not clear when the Grissini’s employees realized they weren’t millionaires, but they’re apparently not deterred. A hostess at the restaurant confirmed to the Huffington Post that they’re already planning on playing again on Wednesday.

Double-check your numbers, people.

Alex Hider is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @alexhider.