Since July 19, the Powerball jackpot had remained untouched and had amassed to an astounding total of $1.725 billion. Last Wednesday, one lone lucky winner hit big and will be able to take home what is now the second largest lottery jackpot in history. The ticket was sold at Midway Market and Liquor in Frazier Park, California.
The Powerball is a multi-state lottery game with multiple winners and various prizes. A Powerball ticket costs only $2, and there are nine ways that a ticket can win. For an extra dollar, “Power Play” can be added, which can double the awarded prize money. The prize earned is based on the amount of numbers that match the drawing, with the lowest prize being $4 for only matching one number and the “powerball.” To win the grand prize, a ticket must match all five numbers and the powerball. For this recent grand prize win, only one ticket across the country matched every number.
The October 11 drawing is the fourth time this year that a lottery ticket has been sold for a jackpot of over $1 billion. While two of these were with the Powerball, the other two jackpots occurred with the Mega Millions game. The occurrences of larger jackpots have recently become more common, and the New York Times reports that this is due to “changes to the games over the years and higher ticket prices.” Additionally, the Powerball jackpot starts at $20 million and accrues from there.
This is not the first time that California has had a major jackpot winner. The California Lottery, in a recent Instagram post, stated that this was their “third Powerball billionaire and second largest jackpot winner in history.” The largest grand prize ticket, sold at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, California for a drawing on November 7, 2022, was for a jackpot that totaled $2.04 billion. The winner came forward to claim the prize the following February. The New York Times reported that he claimed the money as a lump sum of $997.6 million before taxes.
The winner of the $1.725 billion grand prize has not come forward yet and will have up to a year to claim the money; after that, it will be considered forfeit. The New York Times reported that “taken as a cash payout instead of an annuity, it would be worth $774.1 million before taxes.” The store that sold the ticket will also receive a $1 million prize as well.
This life-changing amount of money is not without another price as well. Many times, winners of the grand prize for either the Powerball or Mega Millions will try to keep themselves anonymous, though some states require that some information about winners be released. Additionally, it is recommended that before a winner claims the prize money, they should speak with a financial advisor and also find a good lawyer so that the process goes smoothly. The New York Times supports this as they state that “a lawyer can help line up tax accounting and wealth management” which will be needed to make this significant financial transition.
Now that there has been a winner, the grand prize is much lower. The jackpot as of Wednesday sits at $49 million. Drawings for the Powerball are every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday at 11 p.m.
