The Friday Powerball drawing failed to elect a winner, although two players won seven-figure sums. At the same time, fans of the game are starting to speculate about the elusive winner of the winner of the $1.82 billion jackpot from a few weeks ago who has yet to come forward.
The Friday Drawing Minted Two Millionaires
The Friday Powerball drawing was quite eventful, even if no one won the big prize. The winning numbers for the January 17 drawing were 5, 8, 27, 49, and 57, with a Powerball of 14. If anyone had succeeded in matching all six, they would have been in for a $178 million windfall if they chose the annuity. Alternatively, they could have gone for the lump sum, which was $81.2 million.
While no one won the game’s top prize, two lucky players narrowly missed the jackpot, settling for a seven-figure sum instead. The two, which included a player from South Carolina and a player from California, managed to match all numbers except the Powerball, netting them $1 million each. However, the South Carolina player had the Power Play feature active and will take home $2 million instead.
In the meantime, 19 players matched four white numbers and the Powerball. Five of them had the Power Play feature active and will take $200,000 each, while the rest will take $50,000 each.
Since no one won the game’s top prize, it has continued to grow and is currently standing at $193 million with a lump-sum option of $87.9 million. The next drawing is set to take place later today.
Arkansas Is Still on the Lookout for the $1.82B Jackpot Winner
In the meantime, Arkansas locals are starting to speculate about the identity of the winner of the $1.82 billion Powerball jackpot, which landed just in time for Christmas. In the month following the win, the jackpot remained unclaimed as the winner had yet to come forward to receive their life-changing prize.
Since the winning ticket was bought at the Murphy USA gas station in Cabot, a fairly busy location considering its proximity to Interstate 57, the ticket winner could be virtually anyone, including people from outside the state.
Some have joked that the winner must be House Speaker Brian Evans (R-Cabot), while others have been carefully eyeing their coworkers and neighbors for any indication of whether they are the winner.
Others are more pessimistic and have been saying that the winner could have misplaced or even lost their ticket. However, this isn’t necessarily the deal since some players just opt to take their prize at a later date. This is exactly what happened to one of the recent Mega Millions winners who claimed their prize a few months after winning it. This was also the case for a separate lottery winner in the UK who also waited quite a while before cashing in the ticket.