Two lucky Powerball players started 2022 with a bang by hitting a massive $632.6 million jackpot, lottery officials said.
The winning tickets in Wednesday night’s drawing, sold in California and Wisconsin, matched all six numbers — 6, 14, 25, 33 and 46 — along with 17 as the Powerball.
The ticket-holders will split the jackpot worth $316.3 million in annual annuities or take home $225.1 million in cold, hard cash — both amounts before taxes. The jackpot is the seventh-largest winning in Powerball history, lottery officials said.
Wednesday’s drawing marked the first time someone hit the Powerball jackpot since Oct. 4, some 40 games earlier. A single ticket in California took home a cool $699 million in that drawing — the seventh-largest in US lottery history and fifth-biggest Powerball win, officials said.
The ticket-holders will split the jackpot worth $316.3 million in annual annuities or take home $225.1 million in a lump sum. Charlie Neibergall/APThe ticket sold in California for Wednesday’s win, meanwhile, was purchased at a 7-Eleven in Sacramento. The store will get a $1 million bonus for selling the winning ticket, according to state lottery officials.
The winning Wisconsin ticket was sold in Green Bay, state lottery officials confirmed to The Post. A press conference to announce where it was purchased will be held later Thursday.
“What a fantastic way to start the new year,” Wisconsin Lottery Director Cindy Polzin said in a statement. “We’re thrilled another jackpot has been won in WINsconsin. This is our fourth major jackpot won in the past four years.”
The fortunate ticket holders have 180 days to claim their winnings, Polzin said.
Powerball tickets are sold for $2 each in 45 states, as well as Washington, DC, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Drawings are held Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.
The overall odds of winning any prize are 1 in 24.9, lottery officials said, but climbs to 1 in 292.2 million for the jackpot.
In 2016, three Powerball tickets sold in California, Florida and Tennessee won the largest jackpot ever in US history — a staggering $1.586 billion.
Powerball officials urged players to thoroughly check their tickets before tossing them away — as more than 3 million won prizes ranging from $4 to $2 million — with million-dollar winners sold in nine states, including California, Florida, New Jersey and New York.
