We have a winner: $842.4M Powerball jackpot ticket sold in Michigan

After close to three dozen consecutive Powerball jackpot drawings without anyone taking the top prize, that streak ended Monday night.

A single winning ticket worth $842.4 million was sold in Michigan, according to a news release late Monday from Powerball.

The winner has the option to accept that full amount over 30 years or take the lump-sum option of $425.2 million.

Monday’s jackpot ranks as the fifth-largest Powerball jackpot and tenth-largest U.S. lottery jackpot, according to an earlier news release from Powerball. This was also the first time a Powerball jackpot has been won on New Year’s Day since the game’s start in 1992.

“What an incredible beginning to the New Year for Powerball!” Drew Svitko, Powerball Product Group Chair and Pennsylvania Lottery Executive Director, said in the news release. “In addition to our big jackpot winner, there are hundreds of good causes supported by U.S. lotteries that will receive further funding from this jackpot run.”

The national jackpot initially hit $810 million after no one won Saturday night’s drawing before final ticket sales pushed it higher by the time the numbers were selected Monday. The lump-sum option would have would have netted the winner $408.9 million.

A single winner of Saturday’s drawing would have cleared $786 million, up from the previously announced $760 million prize. A single winner who chose all-at-once cash option would have won $396.8 million, up from the previously announced $383.6 million.

A single winner of last Wednesday’s drawing would have cleared $700 million with the all-at-once cash option being $352.4 million. According to a news release from Powerball, game leaders raised that jackpot the morning of the drawing from an estimated $685 million, citing strong ticket sales.

The Powerball jackpot surpassed over $500 million four different times in 2023, an earlier release from Powerball says. The jackpot was previously won on Oct. 11 when a ticket in California won a $1.765 billion grand prize. Before Monday, there were 34 consecutive drawings without a jackpot winner.

Powerball winning numbers: Last drawing

The winning numbers from Monday, Jan. 1 were 12, 21, 42, 44, 49 and Powerball 1.

Big winner: $1.765 billion Powerball jackpot goes to lucky lottery player in California

Getting your Powerball tickets

Those interested in getting tickets must get them before 6:45 p.m. on the day of the drawings to have a chance to win the giant prize. Tickets are available at all Washington Lottery retail locations. The drawings take place at 7:59 p.m. PT on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

According to a statement from Washington’s Lottery, Powerball also offers several add-on features, including Double Play for $1, a second-chance drawing at 8:30 p.m. with the chance to win up to $10 million, and Power Play for $1, which offers players the opportunity to multiply their non-jackpot winnings based on the Power Play multiplier randomly chosen at draw time.

How you can win the Powerball jackpot

Powerball is a national lottery game, a statement from Washington’s Lottery notes. Each play is $2. Players pick five numbers between one and 69 and one Powerball number between one and 26.

Alternatively, players may use Quick Pick by letting the computer select their numbers. With nine winning ball combinations, the more numbers that match those drawn, the more a player will win.

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2023’s Powerball jackpots

• Feb. 6, 2023: $754.6 million. The winning ticket was sold in the state of Washington.
• March 4, 2023: $162.2 million. The winning ticket was sold in Virginia.
• April 19, 2023: $252.6 million. The winning ticket was sold in Ohio.
• July 19, 2023: $1.08 billion. The winning ticket was sold in California.
• Oct. 11, 2023: $1.765 billion. The winning ticket was sold in California.

What are the odds of winning a Powerball jackpot?

The odds of winning a Powerball jackpot are about one in 292.2 million, The Associated Press noted in its past coverage of large game prizes.

That winless streak shouldn’t be a surprise because it shows the game is operating as it was designed. The immense jackpot odds are intended to make winning rare so the grand prizes can grow so large. People may say they would be satisfied with winning a smaller sum, but it’s the giant jackpots that prompt people to drop money on Powerball tickets.

When someone wins the big prize and the jackpot reverts to about $20 million, sales drop dramatically. Those sales then rise steadily along with the top prize.

Plenty of people buy Powerball tickets, but sales are far less than seven or eight years ago, when jackpots began to grow much larger after a change in the game’s odds. Before the jackpot odds worsened in 2015 from 1 in 175.2 million to 1 in 292.2 million, more people won the top prizes, so they didn’t grow so massive.

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Why promoted jackpots and cash values vary so much

Lotteries promote the larger jackpot, but the prize everyone is dreaming of is half that amount or less. That’s because the promoted prize is for a one winner who is paid over 30 years through an annuity, in which the announced prize is invested and pays more over time.

Under the annuity plan, winners will receive an immediate payment and then 29 annual payments that rise by 5% each year until finally reaching the original promoted total.

As interest rates have risen in the past year or so, the cash prize has generated much larger annuity prizes. Winners rarely take the annuity option, but that’s the big number that is displayed on lottery billboards.

Contributing: The Associated Press