Georgia Powerball ticket hits $478 million jackpot for first winner in the state since 2016
Wednesday's winning Powerball ticket was sold in Georgia at a convenience store — netting the lucky buyer a $478 million jackpot, the state lottery said.
Purchased at a Quick Mart in Buford, the six matching numbers earned the ticket holder the largest winnings in the state's history, according to Georgia Lottery President and CEO Gretchen Corbin. The winning numbers for the Wednesday, Oct. 23, Powerball drawing were: 2, 15, 27, 29 and 39 and the Powerball was 20.
Powerball said on its website that 616,153 tickets sold nationwide won prizes in Wednesday night's drawing. Two tickets, one sold in Pennsylvania and the other in Texas, matched all five white balls to win $1 million prizes.
The jackpot winner can take either the $478.2 million doled out in annual payments or a lump sum payment of $230.6 million, both before taxes. If the winner selects the annuity option, they will receive one immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments.
This was the first jackpot winner in the state since 2016, when couple William and Heather ten Broeke purchased a $246.8 million winning ticket. They opted to take the cash payout, which totaled $165,613,511 before taxes.
Where was the winning Powerball ticket sold in Georgia?
The winning ticket was sold at Quick Mart, located at 2155 Buford Dam Road in Buford, Georgia. Retailers who sell the jackpot-winning ticket earn a $50,000 retailer incentive bonus payment, the lottery said.
Powerball tickets are sold in 45 states. Utah, Nevada, Hawaii, Alaska and Alabama do not participate in the game for a mix of reasons, including objections from conservatives, concerns about the impact on low-income families and a desire not to compete with existing gaming operations. Tickets cost $2.
Players can either pick their numbers or let a computer randomly generate them. One expert told CBS News it's better to use the random ticket number generators because those machines might better match what the Powerball drawing could do.
Even so, the chances of winning the jackpot are very slim. According to Powerball, the overall odds of winning a prize are 1 in 24.9, but the odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.
To put that in context, a Powerball player is more likely to be attacked by a grizzly bear at Yellowstone National Park — about 1 in 2.7 million, according to the National Park Service — or find a blue lobster in the ocean (1 in 2 million).
Do we know who won the Powerball jackpot?
The Georgia lottery has not yet announced if the owner of the winning ticket has claimed their prize. Winners in Georgia have 180 days from the draw date to claim prizes. When the winner does come forward, we still may not know their identity, as people who win large jackpots in Georgia have the option to collect their winnings anonymously.
Once the winner claims their ticket, it will be the highest single payout in Georgia Lottery history, officials said. This jackpot surpasses the previous record held by a Mega Millions winner from Stone Mountain, who claimed half of a $648 million jackpot and was awarded a cash option of over $173 million, before taxes.
Where and when was the previous Powerball jackpot won?
The Powerball jackpot has been won eight times this year, with the most recent winning ticket prior to Wednesday's drawing being sold in California on August 19, 2024, for a $44.3 million jackpot.
The largest payout in Powerball history was in California for a $2.04 billion prize in 2022. In 2016, three winners from California, Florida, and Tennessee split a $1.586 billion prize.
The other winners in 2024 were:
2024 Powerball Jackpots
- Jan. 1, 2024 - $842.4 million – Michigan
- April 6, 2024 - $1.326 billion – Oregon
- May 6, 2024 - $214.9 million – Florida
- June 10, 2024 - $226.6 million – New Jersey
- July 3, 2024 - $139.3 million – Ohio
- Aug. 12, 2024 - $213.8 million – Pennsylvania
- Aug. 19, 2024 - $44.3 million – California
