12 October 2023
ST. LOUIS (NEXSTAR) — A player in California won a $1.76 billion Powerball jackpot Wednesday night, ending a long stretch without a winner of the top prize.
The winning numbers were: 22, 24, 40, 52, 64 and the Powerball 10. The winning ticket was sold at Midway Market & Liquor in Frazier Park, according to the California Lottery. Winning $2 million tickets were sold in Arizona and Pennsylvania, and $1 million winning tickets were sold in California (2), Florida (2), New York, Oklahoma and Virginia.
Phone calls Wednesday night to Midway Market & Liquor went unanswered.
“The phone’s been ringing off the hook, people saying congratulations. Pretty crazy,” the store’s night worker, identified only as Duke, told KCAL-TV.
“Somebody owes me a truck,” he said with a smile. “A lot of customers come in, you know they come in every day to get their tickets religiously. And a lot of them … said: ‘Oh, if I win I’m gonna get you a new truck.’ So where’s my truck? I’ll be waiting.”
He expected the winner will be a local resident.
Before someone won the giant prize, there had been 35 consecutive drawings without a big winner, stretching back to July 19 when a player in California matched all six numbers and won $1.08 billion.
The jackpot is the world’s second-largest lottery prize after rolling over for 36 consecutive drawings. That streak trails the record of 41 draws set in 2021 and 2022.
The only top prize that was ever bigger was the $2.04 billion Powerball won by a player in California last November.
Here are the largest lottery prizes in the U.S.:
$2.04 billion (Powerball): Nov. 7, 2022; California
$1.76 billion (Est. Powerball): Oct. 11, 2023
$1.602 billion (Mega Millions): Aug. 15, 2023; Florida
$1.586 billion (Powerball): Jan. 13, 2016; California, Florida, Tennessee
$1.537 billion (Mega Millions): Oct. 23, 2018; South Carolina
$1.348 billion (Mega Millions): Jan. 13, 2023; Maine
$1.337 billion (Mega Millions): July 29, 2022; Illinois
$1.08 billion (Powerball): July 19, 2023; California
$1.05 billion (Mega Millions): Jan. 22, 2021; Michigan
$768.4 million (Powerball): March 27, 2019; Wisconsin
Powerball’s long odds are designed to generate big jackpots, with prizes becoming ever larger as they repeatedly roll over when no one wins. And wins in recent months have been few and far between. You have a 1 in 292.2 million chance of winning the Powerball jackpot and a 1 in 24.9 chance of winning any Powerball prize.
That didn’t bother those eager to plunk down their money Wednesday for a long-shot chance at instant wealth.
Robert Salvato Jr., a 60-year-old electrician, bought 40 Powerball tickets at a hardware store in Billerica, Massachusetts.
“I would take care of family and give my cat that extra leg that she needs and make her a good kitty,” said Salvato, who got married on Saturday.
“I could give her a ring on every finger, I guess,” Salvato said of his new wife.
Nevada is among the five states without Powerball, so friends Tamara Carter and Denise Davis drove from Las Vegas across the state line into California to buy tickets. But the line was so long at their first stop that they gave up and went in search of another store.
“The line was about three hours long,” Carter estimated. “I was waiting for maybe a half hour, and it didn’t move.”
The jackpot has grown enormous due to a long dry spell. The previous winning Powerball ticket was worth $1.08 billion after 39 drawings without a jackpot win.
At the same hardware store as Salvato, Kevin Button seemed to understand the long odds as he bought a ticket.
“I only buy them usually when the jackpot’s high,” Button said. “Seems to have been pretty high quite often lately. So I’ve tried quite a few times and haven’t even won a free ticket. But maybe tonight’s the night.”
In most states, a Powerball ticket costs $2 and players can select their own numbers or leave that task to a computer.
Jackpot winners have two options to receive their prize: an annuitized payout of gradually increasing payments over 29 years or as a lump sum. The payouts can vary depending on the state. You may want to think twice about taking the cash option, though.
Winnings would be subject to federal taxes, and many states also tax lottery winnings.
Powerball tickets are $2 each and sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In addition to Saturdays, drawings are held every Monday and Wednesday at 10:59 p.m. ET.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.