Workers at a New Jersey restaurant jumped for joy when they thought they’d hit the Powerball jackpot, scoring Saturday’s $949 million prize.

But the celebration at Grissini’s Restaurant in Englewood Cliffs came to an abrupt end when employees realized they’d mistakenly compared Wednesday’s winning numbers to their Saturday ticket.

“It was like getting punched in the stomach,” said Charles Poveromo, 55, who’s worked as a bartender at the restaurant for 13 years.

Poveromo said 42 employees pooled their money and bought $210 worth of tickets.

On Saturday, his friend texted him the latest Powerball numbers — but failed to realize the website hadn’t been updated yet, and it was still showing Wednesday’s winning combination, he said.

“I picked up my phone and start calling out the numbers to everyone here,” Poveromo said.

“All the numbers matched our tickets. Then pandemonium hit. There was just so much joy, and I can’t put into words the feelings of euphoria that we all felt.”

A video posted on YouTube captured the brief moment of bliss, showing staffers hooting and hollering for joy, believing they’d become instant millionaires.



A dishwasher even took his apron off, yelling out, “I’m outta here! I quit!,” general manger Mike Devincenzi, 47, told The Post.

Then Poveromo called his wife, who said they should double-check the numbers. That’s when they realized the numbers were from the wrong day.

“When we found out, it was like a balloon deflating,” Poveromo said.

The dishwasher who threatened to quit laughed and put his apron back on, saying, “Back to work,” Devincenzi added.

In a Facebook post, the eatery posted a picture of their Saturday ticket with Wednesday’s winning numbers: 2, 11, 47, 62, 63 and 17. No one won the Wednesday drawing, which had a $528 million prize.



But Poveromo still relishes his brief taste of victory.

“For 20 minutes, it was real,” he said. “It’s a shame we didn’t win, but I wouldn’t trade that feeling for anything.”

And despite the crushing mix-up, they’re still playing this week’s lottery, hoping to take home the $1.5 billion jackpot on Wednesday, he said.