The second largest jackpot in U.S. lottery history now reportedly has a single winner. A winning ticket with the numbers 6, 7, 16, 23, 26 and a Powerball number of 4 sold in Massachusetts holds claim over the $758.7 million Powerball prize, putting to end a summer long push that fell short of the record $1.5 billion Powerball jackpot that was claimed by three winners in 2016.
BREAKING: Lottery officials say single winning #Powerball ticket sold in Massachusetts, claims $758.7 million prize
— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 24, 2017
The winning ticket marks the largest jackpot for a single ticket and stops the jackpot from jumping to $1 billion with its next drawing on Saturday. According to ABC News, Powerball officials expected to sell 170 million tickets between Saturday’s drawing and Wednesday’s jackpot:
The $758.7 million jackpot is second only to a $1.6 billion prize shared by three people in January 2016.
The current jackpot refers to the annuity option, doled out in 30 payments over 29 years, increasing 5 percent annually. Nearly all winners favor the cash option, which would now be $443.3 million.
JUST IN: Winning ticket for $758.7 million #Powerball jackpot sold in Massachusetts; winner not yet identified https://t.co/gMbZdbdzJF pic.twitter.com/ONsefWzS53
— ABC News (@ABC) August 24, 2017
The drawing left plenty of people wondering what might’ve been, especially once a winner had been announced. Some just shrugged it off and returned to their normal routines of posting gifs on Twitter and complaining about Whole Foods, but others seemed a little dejected. They should’ve been prepared, though.
https://twitter.com/HITEXECUTIVE/status/900559178418184192
The chances of walking away with the jackpot would be around one in 292 million, something you would know if you read any lottery-related news in the past week. You were more likely to be killed by an asteroid covered in lightning that was pregnant with quadruplets. Still, some had some hopes dashed:
https://twitter.com/TyroneLWillis/status/900558085688877059
annnddd that would be a negative on paying off the student loans #PowerBall pic.twitter.com/YEueeeIyFO
— Courtney Spinelli (@CourtSpinelliTV) August 24, 2017
It would be nice if Someone in Massachusetts could reimburse me my $10. #Powerball
— Garrett (@carsandkickoffs) August 24, 2017
If I win the Powerball- I will rent out the Dr Phillips Center and produce a Bill And Ted Halloween show ever year. #Powerball #HHN27
— Epic Schmidt (@Mrfurious32821) August 24, 2017
https://twitter.com/thecourtneyhurd/status/900594142174216192
https://twitter.com/Therealmereal/status/900594104714842112
So congratulations mystery winner. Here’s hoping you didn’t win it as part of a work pool and now have to split it with 15 other people.
