Moment when employees celebrate $1 billion lottery win and one stop… before the horror is realized

PANDEMONIUM erupted at a restaurant after workers had their numbers called in for a $1 billion Powerball jackpot – or so they thought.

Servers, chefs and bartenders in New Jersey cried tears of joy and waved their arms in the air after thinking their lives had been changed forever.

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The 42 employees who pooled their money and bought $210 worth of tickets that week thought they had just struck gold.

So much so that one of the employees even quit his job on the spot.

The workers can be seen on video reading the numbers, while another shouts “Yes!” shouts. in each successive match.

When the person reading the card finally announces the Powerball, the entire restaurant erupts in cheers.

Staff at Grissini restaurant in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, thought they had just won $900 million (£710 million).

However, that was until someone realized the terrible reality of the situation.

The restaurant employees had incorrectly compared Wednesday’s winning numbers with their Saturday ticket.

Their ticket, featuring numbers 2, 11, 47, 62, 63 and a Powerball of 17, exactly matched last Wednesday’s $528 million (£416 million) prize.

“It was like being punched in the stomach,” said Charlie Poveromo, 55, who had worked as a bartender at the restaurant for 13 years, when he spoke to the New York Post in 2016.

The report added that Charlie’s friend sent him the latest Powerball numbers but didn’t realize the website hadn’t been updated yet.

He didn’t know that Wednesday’s winning combination could still be seen there.

He said: ‘I picked up my phone and started calling the numbers to everyone here.

‘All the numbers matched our tickets. Then pandemonium struck.

“There was so much joy and I can’t put into words the feelings of euphoria we all felt.

“When we found out, it was like a balloon deflated.”

Another waiter, Claudio Campos, said: “It was like a bucket of ice was thrown on all our dreams.”

He said a restaurant interrupted the festivities to point out the real winning numbers on his phone.

Claudio said: “We all started hugging each other and jumping around… We had that wonderful feeling that no one can explain.

“I looked at it again and was speechless… I had to tell the boys the bad news.”

The video of the unfortunate misunderstanding recently resurfaced and is going viral once again.

Despite the harrowing reality for the restaurant workers that night seven years ago, Charlie said at the time he couldn’t believe their ticket came so close to victory.

“I still can’t believe it,” he said. “What a feeling.”

In October, a Powerball player sensationally won the second-largest jackpot ever after months of nerve-wracking rollovers.

The $1.7 billion (£1.3 billion) ticket was sold in Frazier Park, California – and matched all six winning numbers.

And one woman is €60 million AUD (£31 million) richer after winning a recent Powerball – but it took her some time to realise.

The Lott struggled to get hold of the lucky Aussie as she wouldn’t answer her phone.