After forty consecutive drawings, Powerball has announced that a winning ticket has matched all six numbers in their US Record jackpot of $2.04bn.
The winning ticket according to California Lottery, part of Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), was purchased at a local service centre in Altadena, California.
If the winner(s) opts for a cash pay-out, they will take home $997.6m in one lump sum before taxes.
It is reported that one of the smaller winners (those that matched 5 numbers) who purchased the ticket in Florida, won $2m, while 22 other winners that purchased their tickets from other states like New Jersey, Pennsylvania, North- Carolina, Texas, Maryland and Georgia, won $1m each.
The jackpot which rose to $2.04bn against the earlier estimated $1.9bn has become the largest lottery prize in the world.
The $2.04bn Powerball draw
The draw was originally scheduled for 11:30pm EST (04:30 GMT) on Monday, but instead took place on Tuesday morning at around 9:00am (14:00 GMT) after a 10-hour delay.
The winning numbers were 10, 33, 41, 47, 56 and power 10.
The identity of those who purchased the winning tickets is not yet known. While in some states winners are allowed to remain anonymous, other states – including California, require winners’ identities to be used to form a trust, to claim the winnings.
The Powerball
Powerball tickets cost $2 to buy, and a winner has the option to choose a lump sum subsidized payment or full amount to be paid in an annuity over 29 years.
The Powerball game, started in 1992, and is played in 45 of the 50 US states, including the capital city of Washington, and in the US territories of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
A ticket must match all six numbers drawn to score the jackpot. If multiple winners select the same combination of numbers in the draw, they will equally share the jackpot.
The winnings are subject to federal taxes of between 24% and 37%, and, in most cases, state taxes. Only 10 states do not have state taxes on lottery winnings.
In several locations – such as New York City – the winnings are also subject to municipal taxes.
Operation of Powerball
Powerball is coordinated by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), a US non-profit, comprised of 38 state lotteries from across the US, Washington DC, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. It was formed in 1987 and launched its first game termed “Lotto America” in 1988.
Money from tickets sales goes both towards the prize money and the rest to the government-run state lotteries that participate in Powerball, as well as to retailer commissions.
According to the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries, US lottery sales totaled over $91bn in the 2019 financial year.
Can Powerball be played outside the US?
Powerball tickets can be purchased online, and participants do not need to be US citizens nor residents.
However, winnings, must be claimed in the state to which a ticket belongs.
In 2015, 37-year-old Iraqi man from Baghdad, won a $6.4m (£5.5m) “Megabucks” jackpot in Oregon after purchasing the ticket through a Malta-based website.
Lottery winners have also been reported in a number of other countries, including Australia and El Salvador.
Source: BBC News
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