On Wednesday night, someone could win an estimated $1.73 billion in the multi-state Powerball Lottery. Could that someone be a Georgian? Something similar has happened before.
The Powerball Jackpot prize drawing will take place at 10 p.m. ET on Wednesday evening. It’s estimated, based on ticket sales nationwide, that the prize will be valued at $1.73 billion, making it the second-largest in the history of this game. That equates to a cash value of $757 million after Uncle Sam takes his portion. Life-changing money for Georgia lottery players, indeed.
Georgia resident won $116 million in Powerball drawing in 2010
Earlier in 2023, Powerball reached $1.08 billion, a prize that was won by one lucky person in California. In 2010, a Marietta, Georgia man won $116 million in the Powerball game. Famously, in 2011, someone bought a ticket in Georgia that matched the balls and won a $77 million Powerball jackpot. However, that ticket-holder failed to claim the prize within the allotted 180-day window, and the money was returned to the lottery pool. Two other times, a person has purchased a ticket in GA that won all of part of the Powerball. That’s four times a Georgia-sold ticket won the top jackpot in the Powerball, which was started in 1993.
Odds on winning the top jackpot in Powerball are 1 in 292.2 million. With just about 325 million people in the United States, that means if every person in the country purchased a ticket with different numbers, only one person would be likely to win the Powerball jackpot. Players are not competing against each other in Powerball lottery, they are competing with the odds of their numbers showing up on the five white and one gold ball.
CA, PA have the most Powerball winners
Historically, the two states with the most jackpot Powerball winners are Pennsylvania and California, with 16 and 15, respectively.
Other prizes are also available in Powerball lottery, which is sold in 45 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Players can win $1 million for matching five numbers, $50,000 all the way down to $4.
The most recent drawing was held Monday when numbers 16, 34, 46, 55, 67 and 14 were drawn. That pushed the jackpot to what is anticipated to be nearly $1.73 billion on Wednesday. Previously, the highest Powerball jackpots were $2.04 billion on Nov. 7, 2022, $1.586 billion on Jan. 13, 2016, and $1.08 billion for the July 19, 2023 game.
