RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 19 sourcesThe lucky player has a choice of taking a $450.5 million jump sum or the full amount in 30 payments
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An Illinois Powerball player has won $1.04 billion in the biggest jackpot of the year so far.
The huge prize draw took place on Wednesday night, with the as-yet unnamed player matching all six numbers on a single ticket.
“Congratulations to our newest Powerball jackpot winner in Illinois,” Stephen Durrell, Chair of the Powerball Product Group, said in a statement .
“For more than three decades, Powerball has shown that a winning ticket can be sold anywhere the game is played, giving every $2 ticket the chance to change not only a winner’s life, but generations to come.”
The winning numbers were 4, 26, 66, 67 and 69, with a red Powerball 9.
The winner has the choice to draw a lump-sum worth $450.5 million or an annuitized prize worth the full $1.04 billion, paid out in 30 payments over 29 years. Both prizes are before tax.
The cash prize would be subject to a 24 percent federal withholding and could also face a federal marginal rate of up to 37 percent, drastically reducing the win while still huge amount of money, Forbes reports.
Wednesday’s win was the 44th consecutive drawing of the jackpot, after a previous draw was won at the start of May.
The result is also the largest Powerball win of the year so far, and the eighth-largest jackpot in Powerball’s history.
The biggest single lottery jackpot in U.S. history was won back in November 2022, when a California Powerball player bought a ticket and won $2.04 billion.
The California winner was identified by the California State Lottery at a news conference as Edwin Castro , who bought the ticket at a gas station in Altadena.
“As much as I am shocked and ecstatic to have won the Powerball drawing, the real winner is the California public school system,” a statement from Castro read aloud at the conference said.
“The mission of the California Lottery, which is to provide supplemental funding for California public education, both public schools and colleges, makes this a huge win for the state.”
Following the Illinois player’s huge win, the Powerball jackpot will reset back to $20 million ahead of the next draw on Saturday.
The Powerball game is available in 45 U.S. states, along with Washington D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The draw is also now available to British players , with the game launching in the United Kingdom back in July.
However, Powerball says that the odds of winning the grand prize stand at 1 in 292,201,338.
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