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PHOTO AP In this file photo from Jan. 12, blank forms for the Powerball lottery lie in a bin at a local grocery store in Des Moines.
DES MOINES – After 40 draws with no big Powerball winner, a single ticket sold in California matched all six numbers and was the lucky winner of the nearly $ 700 million jackpot, officials said.
The winning numbers drawn on Monday night were 12, 22, 54, 66 and 69. The Powerball was on the 15th.
Thanks to nearly four months of futility and final ticket sales, the Powerball jackpot soared to $ 699.8 million, making it the seventh largest in US lottery history. No one had won the game’s grand prize since June 5.
It was the first jackpot won on a Monday night since August 23, when the game launched a third weekly draw, officials said.
According to the California Lottery, the winning ticket was sold at a grocery store in Morro Bay, located along the state’s central coast. The winner will be able to choose between the 29-year annuity option or the $ 496 million cash option. Both pricing options are subject to taxes.
Lottery officials will not know the identity of the winning ticket holder until a claim form is filed, the California Lottery said.
Five million dollar winning tickets were sold; two in Massachusetts and one in Virginia, Florida and Arizona.
The 41st draw set a record, surpassing the previous mark of 36 draws that ended in January 2021. The longer the game lasts without a grand prize winner, the higher the payout.
The jackpot drought was intentional, as the game’s long odds of 292.2 million to one are intended to generate massive prizes that attract more players.
Lottery officials noted that despite the long wait for a winning jackpot ticket, many people won smaller prizes, including 2.8 million players in Saturday’s draw alone. These winnings ranged from $ 1 million to $ 4.
Powerball is played in 45 states plus Washington, DC, the US Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.
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