$50,000 Powerball Winning Ticket Sold in Connecticut: Check Your Numbers

There was no jackpot winner for Wednesday night's drawing, but one Connecticut lottery player is waking up Thursday morning $50,000 richer.

Matching all of the Powerball numbers would have been worth $310 million, but matching four numbers and the Powerball number earned one Connecticut resident $50,000. Five people in other states won $1 million during last night's Powerball drawing.

A total of 18,479 "winning" tickets were sold in Connecticut where prizes ranged from $4 to $50,000. Seven people won $200 and 31 people won $100, according to the Connecticut Lottery.

The winning Powerball numbers for Wednesday, Feb. 15, are: 33, 05, 42, 38, 28, plus the Powerball of 19.

There were million-dollar winners in California, New Jersey, Florida, Georgia and New York. With no jackpot winner, Saturday's drawing will be worth $349 million, with a cash payout of more than $213 million.

Powerball drawings are held every Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. Eastern time. The multi-state Powerball jackpot had climbed to $421 million last fall, one of the highest jackpot prizes since the $1.6 billion drawing in January 2016, when it was won by a group of Tennessee workers.

In May, a $429.6 million jackpot winning ticket was sold in Mercer County and matched the 5 white balls and the Powerball.

Each ticket costs $2. Find out where you can buy your Powerball tickets here. The Powerball game is played by matching 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.

The billion-dollar-plus prize won in the Jan. 13, 2016, drawing was the largest lotto jackpot awarded in U.S. history and was split by three winners. In the summer of 2016, a New Hampshire player won a $478 million prize.

Claiming, Safeguarding Winnings
So, what should you do if you win the big prize? Many lottery winners hire an attorney, financial planner or both, since most people don’t exactly know what to do when they suddenly come into so much money. Some even bring their lawyer with them to claim their prize. The lottery does not offer any counseling services or advice for winners.

You have two choices when you claim your prize: the full value paid in 30 installments over 29 years, or a one-time lump sum that is smaller than the actual total.

Then there are the taxes. The federal tax on lottery winnings is 25 percent. Then, any extra income taxes like state or city would apply.

Financial experts say that if you can get more than a 3 or 4 percent return on an investment, the lump sum is actually the best way to go in the long-term.

With reporting by Deb Belt | Patch file photo