A lottery player in California has won the $1.73 billion (a little over Rs 7,500 crore) Powerball jackpot, ending the long stretch. According to CNN, this is the second-largest jackpot in the Powerball and US lottery history. The winning numbers are 22, 24, 40, 52, 64 and the Powerball 10. The winner has the option to either go for an annuity payment of $643.7 million over 30 years, or choose a lump sum prize money, estimated at $756.6 million, both before taxes, the outlet further said.
Gambling winnings in the US are subject to mandatory federal withholding taxes. In some of the US states, there are state taxes too - ranging from 2.5 per cent in Arizona to 10.9 per cent in New York.
The grand prize had been steadily increasing after weeks of drawings with no jackpot winner.
Powerball ticket sales since July have allowed the California Lottery to raise nearly $110 million for public education, the state lottery said in a news release.
Before this, a lucky man had won the record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot in November 2022 in California.
Wednesday night's drawing was the 36th drawing in this jackpot run. It was the first time in Powerball's history that back-to-back cycles have generated billion-dollar grand prizes, Powerball said in a news release.
Powerball is played in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Each ticket costs $2.
The odds of winning a Powerball jackpot are one in 292.2 million.
