A single ticket sold in the state of Michigan won the jackpot in the first draw of the year Powerballwhich had accumulated 842.4 million with a cash option of 425.2 million.
The winning numbers for the January 1, 2024 drawing were 12-21-42-44-49 and Powerball 1. The Powerplay: 3x.
The Michigan Lottery reported that the winning ticket was sold in the Food Castle from Grand Blanc, a small town south of Flint.
At the moment the identity of the winner has not been revealed, until that person contacts the Lottery.
This is the fourth jackpot largest in the history of the popular American game of chance.
“What an incredible start to the year for Powerball,” Drew Svitko, president of the Powerball product group and CEO of the Pennsylvania Lottery, said in a statement.
“In addition to our big jackpot winner, there are hundreds of good causes supported by American lotteries that will receive more funds from this jackpot race. Thanks to our players for making this possible! Happy New Year! “He added.
In addition to the jackpot, four tickets matched all five numbers except the Powerball, winning a prize of one million dollars. These were purchased in Florida, California, Connecticut and Maryland.
Two other tickets – sold in Florida and Texas – matched all five numbers except the Powerball and added the Power Play for two million.
This Powerball jackpot had been accumulating since last October 11, when a ticket purchased in California won a jackpot of 1.765 million.
The biggest prize in the game of chance had closed the year without a winner, because on the night of December 30, no one matched the winning numbers
Throughout 2023 Powerball delivered five big jackpots, with three of them ranking among the ten greatest in the history of the game.
The winners were: $754.6 million on February 6 in Washington; $162.6 million on March 4 in Virginia; $252.6 million on April 19 in Ohio; 1,080 million dollars in California on July 19 and in that same state 1,765 million dollars on October 11, which became the second highest in the history of the game.
In 2016, Powerball became the first multi-jurisdictional drawing game to surpass $1 billion in jackpot prizes, when three tickets split a $1.586 million prize.
Last year the game hit the world record for a government lottery jackpot: $2.04 billion.
In November 2022, Erdwin Castro, a 30-year-old former mechanic and aspiring architect of Hispanic origin, became the winner of the largest prize ever paid in any lottery in the world.
Castro won $2.04 billion with a ticket he purchased at a Joe’s Service Center gas station in Altadena, a town in Los Angeles, California, with just over 42,000 inhabitants. In that case, the lucky person was left with 997.6 million after choosing to collect the prize only.
Powerball has intentionally produced increasing jackpots and increasing periods on the calendar without a winner, as the game was redesigned in 2015 to increase its jackpot.
The slim chances of hitting the Powerball jackpot, which is one in 292.2 million, are designed to accumulate large sums that attract more players.
The game began in 1992 with 14 states and the District of Columbia and now has almost complete coverage of the United States. Powerball is now played in 45 states, as well as Washington DC, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.
There are only eight states, Florida among them, that do not charge state taxes on lottery winnings, which means they offer the highest payment. In addition to the Sunshine State, California, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming appear on that list.
To participate in the draw – held on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays – it is necessary to choose five numbers between 1 and 59, in addition to a sixth number between 1 and 35, which is called Powerball.
You can pay an extra amount – called “Powerplay” – so that if you win, the jackpot is multiplied by two, three, five or ten.
Although the possibility of winning the Powerball jackpot is difficult, it has once again been proven that it is not impossible.
