Powerball Ticket Sold In Washington Won $754.6m Jackpot

A lucky lottery player in Washington matched all six numbers from the Monday draw to win the Powerball jackpot that has been eluding players since November.

Fifth-Largest Powerball Winning

As the first Powerball draw to see a jackpot winner this year, the draw on Monday registered a winning that ranks among the top ten in the US lottery history as final ticket sales pushed the Powerball jackpot to $754.6 million at the time of the drawing, lottery officials stated in a press release.

The multi-million Powerball jackpot ranked as the ninth-largest in all-time lottery history and the fifth-largest in the history of Powerball and compared to the previous jackpot that was won in Kansan on November 19, 2022, which amounted to $92.9 million, the current jackpot is more than eight times larger.

The holder of the lucky Powerball ticket will have to choose between receiving the winnings in an annuitized prize of $754.9 million, comprising of one immediate payment and 29 annual payments each of which would escalate the amount by 5%, or as one lump sum payment of $407.2 million. Both options are before taxes.

In total, the Powerball jackpot was won seven times last year: in January, February, April, June, August, and twice in November, one of which was the $2.04 jackpot won in California that holds the current world record.

The record jackpot winning is still to be claimed by its lucky winner but it already brought the man owning the business in Altadena where the lucky ticket had been sold a $1 million bonus.

Powerball Jackpots in 2022

In August, a lucky Powerball ticket purchased in Pennsylvania won $206.9 million, following the previous jackpot win of $366.7 million registered in Vermont in June. Prior to that, a $473.1 million Powerball jackpot was won in April in Arizona, a $185.3 million jackpot was won in Connecticut in February, and a $632.6 million jackpot was won at the beginning of the year and was split between winners in California and Wisconsin.

According to the Powerball website, the jackpot for the next drawing of the lottery play available across 45 US states, Washington, DC, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, amounts to $20 million.

Last year also saw huge Powerball wins in New Zealand, including the NZ$ 16 million ($9.36 million) won by a couple living in Wellington in October, and the NZ$24 million ($14.88 million) won by a mystery customer who had bought the lucky Lotto ticket at Bell Block Supermarket in New Plymouth in November.