Powerball jackpot: $2.04 billion winning ticket sold in California
LOS ANGELES (AP/KDKA) — Someone who bought a Powerball ticket in Southern California has won a record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot after more than three months without anyone hitting the top prize.
The winning numbers were selected Tuesday morning, nearly 10 hours after the scheduled Monday night drawing because of problems processing sales data at one of the game's member lotteries. Lottery officials acknowledged the unprecedented delay for such a high-profile drawing but said the game's security process took precedence.
"Protecting the integrity of the draw is of utmost importance, and we were able to do that during this historic drawing with the cooperation of all participating lotteries," said Drew Svitko, the chairman of the Powerball Product Group and executive director of the Pennsylvania Lottery.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Minnesota Lottery acknowledged their sales verification system caused the lengthy delay.
The winning numbers drawn Tuesday morning at the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee were: white balls 10, 33, 41, 47 and 56, and the red Powerball was 10.
The jackpot ticket was sold at Joe's Service Center in Altadena, an unincorporated community in the foothills northeast of Los Angeles. For selling the winning ticket, business owner Joe Chahayed will receive a maximum Powerball bonus of $1 million.
On Tuesday, people were still walking into Zoe's Beer on Saw Mill Run Boulevard to buy tickets because they thought no one won. Zoe's Beer employee Nate D'Andrea told KDKA-TV's Meghan Schiller that this jackpot was all anyone was talking about.
"A lot of people came in just asking about that and all confused and they still bought more tickets anyway," he said.
KDKA's Meghan Schiller also talked to some Pittsburghers who kept trying their luck.
"I got like five tickets for 10 bucks," Baldwin resident Kula Kharel said.
KDKA's Meghan Schiller: "Are you shocked that you didn't win?"
"No," Kharel said, laughing.
The $2.04 billion jackpot was by far the largest lottery prize ever won, topping the previous record $1.586 billion prize won by three Powerball ticketholders in 2016. Only four previous jackpots have topped $1 billion, but none of those are close to the current prize, which started at $20 million back on Aug. 6 and has grown over three winless months. No one has won the jackpot since Aug. 3.
The jackpot was initially reported as an estimated $1.9 billion on Monday, but the prize was increased to $2.04 billion Tuesday morning after updated calculations.
The Multi-State Lottery Association said the scheduled drawing was delayed from 10:59 p.m. EST Monday to 8:57 EST a.m. Tuesday because a participating lottery wasn't able to process its sales data. After the lottery, which wasn't identified, completed its pre-draw procedures, the drawing was able to go ahead.
The $2.04 billion prize is for a winner who chooses an annuity, paid annually over 29 years. Nearly all winners instead opt for cash, which was valued at $997.6 million.
The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.
The game is played in 45 states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.