California ticket wins $700M Powerball jackpot, 7th largest ever
After 40 drawings without a big Powerball winner, a single ticket sold in California matched all six numbers drawn Monday and was the lucky winner of the nearly $700 million jackpot prize, officials said.
Late Monday night, California lottery officials announced that a ticket sold at an Albertsons in Morro Bay won $699.8 million.
Morro Bay, a coastal city of about 10,000 residents, is located about 215 miles north of Los Angeles.
The winning numbers drawn Monday night were 12, 22, 54, 66 and 69. The Powerball was 15.
Thanks to nearly four months of futility and final ticket sales, the Powerball jackpot had climbed to $699.8 million, making it the seventh largest in U.S. lottery history. No one has won the game’s grand prize since June 5.
This was the first jackpot won on a Monday night since Aug. 23, when the game launched a third weekly drawing, officials said.
The winner will be able to choose between the annuity option paid over 29 years or the cash option of $496 million. Both prize options are subject to taxes.
There were five $1 million-winning tickets sold; two in Massachusetts and one each in Virginia, Florida and Arizona.
The 41st drawing set a record, topping the previous mark of 36 drawings that ended in January 2021. The longer the game goes without a grand prize winner, the larger the payout will grow.
The jackpot drought is by design, as the game’s long odds of 292.2 million to one are intended to generate massive prizes that draw more players.
Lottery officials have noted that despite the long wait for a winning jackpot ticket, plenty of people have won smaller prizes, including 2.8 million players in Saturday’s drawing alone. Those winnings ranged from $1 million to $4.
Powerball is played in 45 states plus Washington, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
Primm and northwest Arizona are the closest locations to Las Vegas to purchase lottery tickets.
— The Review-Journal contributed to this report.