We have a winner! A single ticket sold in California matched all six numbers wins $699.8 million Powerball jackpot.
The following written content by Grace Hauck
A single ticket sold in California matched all six numbers drawn Monday and was the lucky winner of a Powerball jackpot of nearly $700 million, officials said.
“California, we have a winner! Congratulations to our lucky player from Morro Bay who matched 6/6 numbers and won the $699.8 Million #Powerball jackpot in the Monday, October 4 draw. Thank you to all our players who played,” the California Lottery tweeted.
The winning numbers were 12, 22, 54, 66, 69, and the Powerball was 15. The Power Play was 2.
The odds of winning the grand prize were just 1 in 292.2 million, according to Powerball.
To put it more bluntly: You are more than 1,000 times as likely to find a pearl in an oyster shell, get struck by lightning or date a supermodel.
And you are twice as likely to be killed by a vending machine.
After climbing to $699.8 million, the jackpot was the seventh largest in U.S. lottery history. No one had won the game’s grand prize since June 5.
The winner will be able to choose between the annuity option paid over 29 years or the cash option of $496 million. Both prize options are subject to taxes.
There were five $1 million-winning tickets sold; two in Massachusetts and one each in Virginia, Florida and Arizona.
The last jackpot was hit in early June, when a ticket worth $285.6 million was sold in Florida, according to Powerball. Since then, there have been a record 40 consecutive drawings without a grand prize winner.
“More than 90% of the time we would expect a Powerball Grand Prize winner on the 40th draw or before,” the Multi-State Lottery Association told USA TODAY. “Every jackpot cycle is unique and dependent on sales and the current interest rate environment.”
Many tickets in recent weeks have matched the numbers needed for smaller prizes. On Saturday, one ticket sold in Massachusetts matched the $1 million prize and 66 tickets matched the $50,000 prize.
The overall odds of winning any Powerball prize are 1 in 24.9, according to Powerball.
“Players should check their tickets closely, because even though they didn’t win the jackpot, they may have won a lower-tier prize,” Scheve Reardon said. Read more from USA Today.
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