Winning ticket sold for $1.04 billion Powerball jackpot

A winning ticket was sold in Illinois for Wednesday night’s $1.04 billion Powerball, according to the lottery, marking the largest grand prize since last year.

The winning numbers were 4, 26, 66, 67, 69, and red Powerball 9, with a Power Play multiplier of 2.

The winner, who has not been identified, can choose to receive an annuitized prize of $1.04 billion paid in 30 graduated payments over 29 years, or a lump sum payment estimated at $450.5 million. Both figures are before taxes.

Additionally, one lucky ticket sold in Massachusetts drew 5 of the 6 numbers with the Power Play multiplier, winning $2 million, and 5 tickets sold across four states — Arizona, California, Florida and North Carolina — won $1 million each, the lottery said.

Wednesday’s drawing was the first billion-dollar Powerball jackpot since a player in Arkansas took home $1.8 billion on Christmas Eve last year.

It was also the first time someone won the grand prize in more than three months, since two players in Florida and Texas split a $20 million prize on May 2.

Wednesday’s game was the 44th consecutive drawing in the current jackpot run, and the prize ranked as the eighth-largest in Powerball history, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association, which administers the game.

The jackpot now resets at $20 million for Saturday’s drawing.

The odds of winning a Powerball jackpot are approximately 1 in 292.2 million. For perspective, a person has a better chance of being struck by lightning in a given year — a 1 in 1.22 million chance, according to the National Weather Service. The odds of being killed by a shark over a lifetime are roughly 1 in 4.3 million, according to the International Shark Attack File.

The size of this jackpot is no anomaly. Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots have grown larger over the past several years, driven by game redesigns that lengthened the odds of winning, more frequent drawings and an expanded player pool.

Three winners in Florida, California and Tennessee became the first to claim a jackpot over $1 billion when they split a $1.586 billion Powerball prize in 2016.

The largest Powerball prize on record — $2.04 billion — was won in California in 2022. Last year’s $1.8 billion Arkansas jackpot ranks second.

Some states, including Florida, Texas and Tennessee, do not tax lottery winnings, and most Powerball and other major lottery winners choose the lump sum over annuity payments.

Powerball tickets are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and the United Kingdom. Drawings are held every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET.