Biggest Powerball jackpots and Prizes in the world
A lottery is a low-odds game of possibility or process where a random drawing selects the winners. Lotteries are one of the most known games for gamblers, and they have been around for a long while. It is a simple game since it encourages people to pay a small amount of money to be in with a chance of winning a big jackpot.
A lottery could run to make a process fair for everyone when there is a high request for a limited prize or product. Some other examples are a lottery for units in a financed housing block or kindergarten placements at a reputable public school.
There are two common, famous examples of those that happen in sports betting and those that dish out big cash prizes to paying participants.
Powerball
Powerball is an American lottery game that 45 states offer, with the District of Columbia, the US Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. The Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) manages it, a nonprofit organization formed by an agreement with US lotteries. Powerball’s minimum jackpot is $20 million (annuity); Powerball’s annuity is paid in 30 graduated installments, or winners may choose a lump sum payment.
A payment made with a lump sum will be less than all the 30 yearly payments, first of all, because of the time value of money and then because one check for a larger sum will be taxed at a bigger rate than 30 checks. In each installment, a much lower sum will go to taxes.
Drawings for Powerball are issued every Wednesday and Saturday evening at 10:59 pm eastern time. Since October 7, 2015, the game has always used a 5/69 (white balls) + 1/26 (Powerballs) matrix where winning numbers are selected and resulting in odds of 1 in 292,201,338 of winning a jackpot per play.
Every play costs $2 or $3 with the Power Play option. Officially, the cutoff for ticket sales is 10:00 pm eastern time; there are some lotteries that cut off sales earlier. The drawings normally take place at the Florida Lottery’s studio in Tallahassee. The hosts are currently Laura Johnson and Sam Arlen.
The winners of Powerball jackpots
The Biggest Lottery Winners Of Powerball jackpots
1. $1.586 billion (Powerball)
Three winning tickets were sold for this Powerball drawing from January 13, 2016, and it remains the biggest lottery prize ever seen. The winners are John and Lisa Robinson in Tennessee, Maureen Smith, and David Kaltschmidt in Florida and Marvin and Mae Acosta in California. They divide the full prize, giving them the option of approximately $327.8 million as the lump-sum payment or $533 million before taxes as an annuity.
The lucky ticket of Robinson lucky ticket was one of four tickets they bought at a grocery store, as they declared at the show. They opted to take the lump sum. “We’re not guaranteed tomorrow,” says John. Florida-based Smith and Kaltschmidt also opted for the lump sum. Their plans included to get massages, restore their truck, and retire with the newfound wealth, according to NBC. The Acostas decided to remain anonymous for several months after winning, but released a decrement saying they were grateful for the “rare gift that has been placed in our care.”
2. $768.4 million (Powerball)
It was a single Powerball ticket won on March 27, 2019, in Wisconsin.
Before taxes, the winner will have to choose between an estimated annuity of $768.4 million paid out over 29 years or, as another option, a one-time lump sum of $477 million, according to the Powerball. Nine other tickets marked either $1 million or $2 million picking every number except the Powerball.
3. $758.7 million (Powerball)
The drawing of this prize took place on August 23, 2017. The biggest jackpot for a single winner. The lucky ticket was bought in Massachusetts, precisely in Chicopee by Mavis Wanczyk.
4. $687.8 million (Powerball)
Another big winner noteworthy in 2018 happened less than a week after the $1.54 billion Mega Millions jackpot. It was a little bit less than half the size of its predecessor, but it still represents a major windfall for a couple of winners in Iowa and New York in October 2018. One of the winners was from Iowa, Lerynne West, who chose a lump-sum payment. She was 51 years old and got a total amount of $198 million for herself. West, who almost lost her winning ticket, later appeared on TV with Ellen DeGeneres. She announced that she would donate $500,000 to the veterans nonprofit The Travis Mills Foundation.
POWER BALL TOP 5 JACKPOT IN WORLD
| Jackpot Amount | Date of Drawing | Winner(s) | Location |
| $1.58 Billion | January 13, 2016 | John and Lisa Robinson; Maureen Smith and David Kaltschmidt; Marvin and Mae Acosta | Tennessee; Florida; California |
| $768.4 Million | March 27, 2019 | Manuel Franco | Wisconsin |
| $758.7 Million | August 27, 2017 | Mavis Wanczyk | Massachusetts |
| $687.8 Million | October 27, 2018 | Robert Bailey Lerynne West | New York; Iowa |
| $590.5 Million | May 18, 2013 | Gloria McKenzie | Florida |
