By Nouran Salahieh, CNN
A ticket sold in California has won the US$1.08 billion (NZ$1.7 billion) Powerball jackpot in Wednesday night's drawing – among the largest in the game's history, according to Powerball's website.
The winning numbers were 7, 13, 10, 24, 11 and the Powerball was 24.
The lucky ticket holder will have the choice between an annuitized prize of $1.08 billion (NZ$1.7 billion) or a lump sum payment of $558.1 million (NZ$888 million), both before taxes, according to Powerball.
The ticket was sold at Las Palmitas Mini Market in downtown Los Angeles, according to the California Lottery.
Wednesday's prize ranks as the seventh largest US lottery jackpot and third largest Powerball jackpot, behind the world record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot won last year in California, and the $1.586 billion Powerball jackpot won in 2016, according to the lottery.
Though a single ticket won the jackpot, players are being advised to check their tickets on the chance they won one of the other prizes.
In addition to Wednesday's big winner, 36 tickets sold across 16 states matched all five white balls to win what in most states will be $1 million prizes, according to a Powerball news release. Seven of those tickets were sold in California, where the prizes will be $448,750, according to California's lottery site. Non-jackpot prizes in California vary depending on number of winners and ticket sales, and so will differ from fixed prizes shown on Powerball's site.
The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, Powerball says on its website.
Before Wednesday's win, there had been 38 consecutive drawings without a jackpot winner since Powerball's April 19 drawing, when a ticket in Ohio matched all six numbers to win a grand prize worth $252.6 million.
"Congratulations to our newest Powerball jackpot winner and the California Lottery!" said Drew Svitko, Powerball Product Group Chair and Pennsylvania Lottery Executive Director. "For more than 30 years, Powerball has brought people together to dream big and win big, and in doing so, has raised billions of dollars for good causes supported by lotteries."
Last year, a lone winning ticket – also in California – won the record $2.04 billion Powerball lottery jackpot. As a result, the owner of the gas station that sold the winning ticket became a millionaire himself.
For those who didn't become instant millionaires on Wednesday, there may still be hope: the Mega Millions drawing. Friday's Mega Millions jackpot is worth an estimated $720 million, with a cash value of $369.6 million.
CNN
