SILENT NIGHT, LUCKY NIGHT: Powerball Lottery Pays $1.8 Billion on Xmas Eve
For the Arkansas resident who won the $1.817 billion prize in Wednesday's Christmas Eve drawing, life is great. Three months without a top-prize claimant for the lottery game came to an end with the second-largest lottery windfall in US history.
“Congratulations to the newest Powerball jackpot winner! This is truly an extraordinary, life-changing prize,” Matt Strawn, Powerball product group chair and Iowa Lottery CEO Matt Strawn said on the Powerball website. “We also want to thank all the players who joined in this jackpot streak – every ticket purchased helps support public programs and services across the country.”
Players from Missouri and Texas won $1.787 billion in the most recent jackpot drawing, which took place on September 6.
A lump sum payment of $834.9 million before taxes or an annuitized prize of $1.817 billion will be available to the winning ticket holder. A winner who chooses the annuity option will get 29 yearly payments, which will increase by 5% year, after receiving one initial payout.
Eight tickets nationwide won the $1 million Match 5 prize after matching all five white balls. California, Indiana, Michigan, New York (2), Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia were among the states where these winning tickets were sold.
As usual, the prize amounts in California are pari-mutuel, which means that the number of winners and sales determine the payout amounts.
Additionally, the drawing yielded 31 winning tickets worth $100,000 and 114 winning tickets worth $50,000.
Holly's Powerballs
According to Powerball, the last time a Christmas Eve Powerball jackpot was won was in 2011. Additionally, the business stated that the contest has been won four times on Christmas Day, the most recent being in 2013.
The purpose of Powerball's long odds (1 in 292.2 million) is to generate enormous jackpots by enabling prize pools to increase through numerous rollovers. The game is accessible in 45 states, as well as Washington, DC, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands, and tickets cost $2.
