Santa had a whopping present in his sleigh on Christmas Eve. A single winning ticket was sold for Powerball's jackpot of $1.817 billion — purchased 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 before 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. 

This is only the second time in the game's history with back-to-back winning jackpots topping $1 billion, Powerball said.

Wednesday's drawing was the 47th in that jackpot run, a record for the most in a Powerball jackpot cycle, the game says.

The $1.817 billion prize is second only to the $2.04 billion jackpot won in 2022 by a single ticket sold in Altadena, California, which was the largest in both Powerball and lottery history.

To win the jackpot, 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. 

Other ticket-holders will also take home a tidy sum. Powerball says eight tickets in Tuesday night's drawing matched all five white balls for a "Match 5" prize of $1 million (the prize total varies in California); 114 tickets won $50,000 prizes and 31 tickets won $100,000.

The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, according to game officials. 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.