Powerball $1.817 billion Christmas Eve jackpot won by single ticket, in Arkansas
Santa had a whopping Christmas present in his sled on Christmas Eve.
A single winning ticket was sold for Powerball's jackpot of $1.817 billion — in Arkansas. It was the second-largest U.S. lottery jackpot ever won.
The winning numbers for Wednesday night's drawing were 4, 25, 31, 52, 59, with a Powerball of 19. The grand prize had a lump sum cash value of $834.9 million.
The Powerball jackpot had been won once on Christmas Eve, in 2011, and four times on Christmas Day, the game says. Powerball started in 1992.
The last time a Powerball jackpot was hit was on Sept. 6 in Missouri and Texas, when two tickets split a $1.787 billion top prize.
It was only the second time in the game's history with back-to-back winning jackpots topping $1 billion, Powerball said.
In 2022, a single ticket sold in Altadena, California, claimed a $2.04 billion jackpot, the largest in both Powerball and lottery history.
Wednesday's drawing was the 47th in that jackpot run, a record for the most in a Powerball jackpot cycle, the game says.
To win the pot of gold, a ticket must match all five white balls and the red Powerball pulled during a drawing. Single winners of the top prize can choose between a lump sum payment or a payout via an annuity of one immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments that increase by 5% each time. Both the lump sum and annuity total are before taxes.
The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, according to Powerball.
Lottery jackpots have exploded in size over the last decade, while the odds of winning have gotten slimmer.
Tickets cost $2 each and are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings take place every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 11 p.m. ET.