$1 Million Winning Powerball Ticket Sold In CT: Check Your Tickets

CONNECTICUT — A Connecticut resident is waking up $1 million richer after securing a major consolation prize in Wednesday's $700 million Powerball jackpot. No one won the grand prize, and the Powerball jackpot has now soared to $800 million for the Saturday, Oct. 29 drawing.

And if you're curious, if you win the $800 million jackpot, it's actually $383.7 million in a one-time cash payout. Still not too bad.

The winning Powerball numbers are drawn every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. Eastern time, with Powerball results usually posted within 5 minutes.

The winning Powerball numbers for Wednesday, Oct. 26, are: 19, 36, 37, 46, 56 and the Powerball of 24.

A $1 million winner was sold in Connecticut, which means it matched all 5 numbers. Besides the $1 million winner, 33,018 "winning tickets" were sold in Connecticut, which simply means folks won between $4 and $1 million.

Here's the breakdown: 1 ticket resulted in a $1 million winner, 3 tickets yielded $50,000 winners, 34 tickets $200, 42 tickets $100, and everyone else won between $4 and 14.

See also: 2 College Students Killed In Crash, IDs Released: Reports

• Iconic, Unique Eatery Opening 1st CT Location: Reports
• Popular Pizzeria Closes Abruptly

Ticket sales end at least one hour before the drawing in most states. Check with your state lottery for the cut-off time.

The largest Powerball jackpot in history was $1.586 billion, which was split by winners in California, Florida and Tennessee in January 2016.

To win the Powerball jackpot, a player must match all five white balls in any order and the red Powerball number. The odds of picking the correct Powerball grand prize numbers are one in 292,201,338, which doesn't change even if more players buy tickets when the jackpot is enormous.

You have a better chance of winning the Powerball jackpot if you let the computer select your numbers, according to lottery officials. About 75 percent of winning tickets over the years had numbers picked by a computer.

Powerball tickets cost $2 each. Find locations where you can buy your Powerball tickets here.

Lottery officials have advice for whoever has the winning numbers:

1. Sign your winning ticket. Write your full name and signature on the back of the winning ticket. If you lose your ticket, having your name on the ticket means that no one else will be able to cash it in.
2. Keep your winning ticket in a safe place. Take steps to protect your winning lottery ticket by putting it somewhere safe where it won't accidentally get thrown out.
3. Get legal and financial advice. It might be wise to talk to some experienced professionals such as a lawyer, an accountant, or an investment advisor to help manage your winnings. The winning Powerball numbers are drawn every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. Eastern time, with Powerball results usually posted within 5 minutes.

These are the five largest Powerball jackpots in the game's history:

• $1.586 billion, Jan. 13, 2016
• $768.4 million, March 27, 2019
• $758.7 million, Aug. 23, 2017
• $731.1 million, Jan. 20, 2021
• $688 million, Oct. 27, 2018

Winners can choose to either have the full jackpot amount paid out in 30 installments over 29 years, or winners can take one lump sum payment that is smaller than the actual total.