Oct. 12 (UPI) — A single ticket in California won the $1.76 billion Powerball jackpot on Wednesday night, the second-biggest jackpot in the game’s history.
The ticket matched the winning numbers of balls 22, 24, 40, 52, 64 and red Powerball 10, lottery officials said. The game’s cash payout before taxes was $774.1 million.
“Congratulations to the newest Powerball billionaire and the millions of Powerball players who won other cash prizes in last night’s drawing,” said Drew Svitko, Powerball product group chair and Pennsylvania Lottery executive director, in a statement.
“For 31 years, some players who have dreamed about winning a Powerball jackpot have defied the odds, and in doing so, have helped generate critical funding for public services and programs supported by U.S. lotteries.”
Lottery officials said the frenzied final ticket sales pushed the jackpot beyond its advertised estimate to $1.765 billion at the time of the drawing. The Powerball jackpot was hit in the 36th drawing since the last win, marking the first time that two consecutive Powerball jackpot cycles have produced billion-dollar grand prizes.
It was the second billion-dollar jackpot Powerball has produced this year and the third over the past 12 months. A single ticket in California also won the $1.08 billion jackpot, the game’s fourth-highest total in history, on July 19.
The record jackpot of $2.04 billion was just given out last November, also to a single ticket in California.
“The lucky ticket holder will have the choice between an annuitized prize worth an estimated $1.765 billion or a lump sum payment of $774.1 million,” Powerball officials said. “Both prize options are before taxes. If the winner selects the annuity option, they will receive one immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments that increase by 5% each year.”
Powerball said that seven tickets won a prize of $1 million each after matching all five white ball numbers. Two of those tickets were in California, two in Florida, and one each in New York, Oklahoma and Virginia. Two tickets — one in Arizona and one in Pennsylvania — one $2 million for adding the $1 Power Play.
America’s other lottery game, Mega Millions, quietly gave away $361 million on Saturday, won by a single ticket in Texas that matched five white ball numbers of 12, 24, 46, 57 and 66, plus the gold Mega Ball 22. That jackpot had a cash payout of $361 million and marked the largest jackpot ever won in Texas.
