A one billion USD jackpot has a winner! The sole winning Powerball ticket in the entire country was sold in California.
“California has a new Powerball billionaire,” the California Lottery announced on Twitter on July 19. “The lucky ticket was sold at Las Palmitas supermarket in Los Angeles and is the only ticket in the United States with matching numbers for all six numbers in the July 19 drawing, winning the one billion USD Powerball jackpot.”
The winning numbers for the July 19 drawing were 7, 10, 11, 13, 24, and the Powerball number was 24. The winner can choose to receive a one-time cash payment of 558.1 million USD or opt for 1.08 billion USD in annuity payments over 30 years. Most Powerball winners choose the cash option. The expected tax on the jackpot is 37%.
This is the largest jackpot since November 2022 and the third time it has reached one billion USD. In November of last year, a single winning ticket sold in California won two billion USD.
Powerball is played in 45 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The odds of winning the jackpot are one in 292.2 million. Players choose five numbers in a range from 1 to 69, and the sixth number, called the Powerball, is chosen from a separate range of 1 to 26. Each ticket costs 2 USD. The Powerball drawings take place three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays.
The lottery company also stated that California sold seven tickets that matched the first five numbers in the recent jackpot, with each ticket winning 448,750 USD. Fifteen other states also had similar winners.