Powerball player wins a $1.3 billion jackpot, ending more than 3 months without a grand prize
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Powerball player has won a $1.3 billion jackpot, ending a winless streak that had stretched more than three months.
The winning numbers drawn early Sunday morning were: 22, 27, 44, 52, 69 and the red Powerball 9.
Until the latest drawing, no one had won Powerball’s top prize since New Year’s Day, amounting to 41 consecutive drawings without a jackpot winner, tying a streak set twice before in 2022 and 2021.
The $1.3 billion prize ranks as the eighth largest in U.S. lottery history and is for a sole winner who chooses an annuity, paid over 30 years. Winners who opt for cash would be paid $608.9 million. The prizes would be subject to federal taxes, and many states also tax lottery winnings.
As the prizes grow, the drawings attract more ticket sales and the jackpots subsequently become harder to hit. The game’s long odds for the drawing were 1 in 292.2 million.
Saturday night’s scheduled drawing was held up and took place in the Florida Lottery studio just before 2:30 a.m. Sunday to enable one of the organizers to complete required procedures before the scheduled time of 10:59 p.m., Powerball said in a statement.
“Powerball game rules require that every single ticket sold nationwide be checked and verified against two different computer systems before the winning numbers are drawn,” the statement said. “This is done to ensure that every ticket sold for the Powerball drawing has been accounted for and has an equal chance to win. Tonight, we have one jurisdiction that needs extra time to complete that pre-draw process.”
Powerball is played in 45 states plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
