A ticket sold in California scored the second-largest jackpot in Powerball and US lottery history in Wednesday night’s drawing, according to Powerball.
The winning numbers are 22, 24, 40, 52, 64 and the Powerball 10.
A player matching all six numbers Wednesday to nab the jackpot may choose between an annuitized prize worth an estimated $1.73 billion or a lump sum payment estimated at $756.6 million, both before taxes, Powerball said earlier on its website.
Powerball ticket sales since July have allowed the California Lottery to raise nearly $110 million for public education, the state lottery said in a news release.
The grand prize has been steadily increasing after weeks of drawings with no jackpot winner. The massive prize is the second-largest for both the Powerball and nationwide – only behind the record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot won November 2022 in California, according to Powerball.
There have been no Powerball jackpot winners since July 19, when a single ticket sold in California nabbed a grand prize worth $1.08 billion.
Still, there have been some big winners in recent drawings. In Monday night’s drawing, four tickets in California, Indiana, Oregon, Virginia matched all five white balls to win $1 million prizes. Prizes in California may vary depending on ticket sales and number of winners.
Another ticket, sold in Florida, matched five numbers and used the “Power Play” feature to increase the prize to $2 million, according to Powerball. Wednesday night’s drawing is the 36th drawing in this jackpot run. It’s the first time in Powerball’s history that back-to-back cycles have generated billion-dollar grand prizes, Powerball said in a news release.
Overall, the odds of winning a prize are 1 in 24.9. But the odds of winning the jackpot are much slimmer, at 1 in 292.2 million, Powerball says.
— CutC by cnn.com
