These Coworkers Were Tragically Fooled Into Thinking They Won The Lottery

A bunch of New Jersey coworkers now have something in common with Miss Universe runner-up Ariadna Gutierrez. At Grissini Ristorante in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 42 coworkers thought they won Saturday's $900-million jackpot only to realize the winning number was outdated. Ouch.

After pooling their money for a batch of lotto tickets, bartender Charles Poveromo read the winning numbers off the Powerball website. When the numbers matched those of one of the tickets, the entire restaurant erupted with clapping and cheering. In the midst of celebrating, one staff member shouted,

I'm never washing another dish in my life!

Fifteen minutes later, Poveromo had to break the news that the numbers were outdated. After rechecking the website, he realized they were the winning numbers from a previous lottery. They hadn't even won enough money to cover the cost of the ticket.

Poveromo remained surprisingly optimistic, though, telling BuzzFeed News,

I wouldn't trade that feeling for anything in the world. Even though we didn't win, it was such a great feeling and something we will always have.

The Grissini Ristorante staff have pooled their money once again for a chance at winning Wednesday's $1.5 billion jackpot.

Citations: These Poor Coworkers Thought They Won The Powerball But They Actually Didn't (BuzzFeed News)