What a huge win!
Players from Missouri and Texas celebrated after winning a record $17.9 billion Powerball jackpot on Saturday. This marks the end of a three-month dry spell for the lottery.
The winning numbers were 11, 23, 44, 61, 62, and the Red Powerball was 17.
Both winners will equally share the jackpot and can opt for a lump-sum payment of $895 million spread out over 29 years, or take $410 million upfront before taxes, according to Powerball officials.
The winning tickets in Texas were purchased at the Big 103 gas station in Fredericksburg, a small town about 75 miles west of Austin.
This is Missouri’s 33rd Powerball jackpot win, trailing Indiana, which has 39. Texas has now sold the Powerball jackpot three or four times.
Additionally, fifteen players matched all five white balls and will receive a million-dollar payout.
The winners hail from various states, including California (2), Colorado, Florida, Illinois (2), Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York (2), Ohio (2), Oregon, Texas (2), and West Virginia.
Players from Kansas and Texas matched all five white balls as well and opted for the power play, which doubled their prize to $2 million.
This recent jackpot is the second-largest in gaming history, surpassing the $1.765 billion won in 2023 by Theodorus Struyck from California.
He chose a lump sum of $744 million after winning the big prize.
Saturday’s win not only broke the record for 2025 but also exceeded the previous $526.5 million jackpot won by California ticket holders on March 29.
The odds of winning the Powerball Grand Prize are quite staggering at 292.2 million to one, meaning that the chance of winning is even slimmer than becoming President of the United States for Florida residents hoping to hit it big.
This lengthy dry spell had numerous players matching five white balls but failing to hit the elusive red Powerball.
Unidentified winners can request their prizes any time from 90 days to a year, depending on the state where the ticket was purchased.
This victory marked the first Grand Prize win since tickets worth $204.5 million sold in California on May 31.
As of now, the jackpot remains unclaimed.
The record for the largest Powerball win still belongs to California’s Edwin Castro, who took home a staggering $2.04 billion on November 7, 2022, and opted for $997.6 million.
