Winning $1B Powerball Ticket Sold In California

LOS ANGELES, CA — A Powerball ticket sold in Los Angeles won the $1.08 billion jackpot in Wednesday's drawing, the California Lottery announced.

The ticket, sold at Las Palmitas Mini Market, was the only ticket across the country to match all six numbers in Wednesday's draw, lottery officials said. The ticket matched all five winning numbers—7, 10, 11, 13, and 24, with a Powerball number of 24.

"We won't know who the winner is until they come forward; there's a good chance whoever has that ticket may not even realize it yet!" CA Lottery Press said in a series of tweets early Thursday morning. "Our biggest piece of advice for them is to keep that ticket safe. It's the key to getting the prize money."

The jackpot winner isn't the only big winner in California this week: another seven tickets sold in the state matched five numbers, just missing the Powerball.

These tickets won players $448,750 each in Hayward, La Puente, Los Angeles, Northridge, San Francisco, Santa Clara, and South Lake Tahoe, according to officials.

"Congratulations to the 583,389 winning tickets from this draw alone and thank you for providing a HUGE win for California public schools," California Lottery said in a tweet.

The state seems to be on a lucky lottery streak. Thursday's winning ticket made California's second billion-dollar winner in less than a year.

A ticket that won a California man the biggest jackpot ever in the nation's history—a $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot—was sold in November 2022 at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena.

After months of suspense about California’s mystery overnight billionaire, the record-setting winner came forward in February of this year to collect his haul.

The big winner, Edwin Castro, declined to appear at a Sacramento news conference with state lottery officials at the time, although he did provide a prepared statement.

"As much as I am shocked and ecstatic to have won the Powerball drawing, the real winner is the California public school system," Castro said. "The mission of the California Lottery, which is to provide supplemental funding for California public education — both public schools and colleges — makes this a huge win for the state. As someone who received the rewards of being educated in the California public education system, it’s gratifying to hear that, as a result of my win, the California school system greatly benefits as well."

Lottery sales leading up to Castro’s win raised $156.3 million for public education in California, lottery officials said at the time.

SEE ALSO:

• $2B Jackpot-Winning Powerball Ticket Sold In California
• $1.1M Powerball Ticket Sold In Bay Area
• Winning $1M Powerball Ticket Sold At Beaumont Oak Valley 76
• California's Top 12 Lottery Winners In 2021: Making Millionaires
• 2 Bay Area Lottery Tickets Each Worth $287,200
• Lottery Winner Becomes Record-Setting Loser
• $26M Lotto Ticket Destroyed In Laundry, Would-Be Winner Claims
• Meet The Valley Man Who Keeps Winning The Lottery
• 'Rude' Man Pushes LA Woman Into $10 Million Lottery Jackpot
• Excuse Me, Did You Leave $63 Million on the Table in Chatsworth?
• How A Lottery Jackpot Winner Became A Bank Robber
• Lottery Winner Surprised to Discover $1K Ticket Is Worth $1.3 Million
• 'It's The Lottery Curse,' Says Jackpot Winner Turned Bank Robber

It costs $2 to play Powerball and tickets can be purchased at various retailers or a lottery vending machine. Drawings are every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 7:59 p.m. Find out where to play here.