2 $50K Winning Powerball Tickets Sold In Connecticut As Jackpot Soars To $650 Million

It’s getting serious now. No one won the big $535 million Powerball jackpot last night and that means Wednesday’s drawing will be the second largest Powerball jackpot ever. The jackpot for Wednesday, August 23 is now at $650 million and if there is only one winner, you’ll receive a check for $411.7 million.

While no one won the big jackpot last night, Connecticut did have two $50,000 winning tickets sold here. So you’ll want to check your tickets before throwing them away and rushing out to purchase tickets for Wednesday’s big drawing.

The Connecticut Lottery says 68,022 people had “winning” tickets here, which means they won between $4 and $50,000 in Connecticut. Here’s the breakdown of those “winning” tickets: two people won $50,000, 32 people won $400, 145 people won $100, and everyone else won between $4 and $28.

Saturday's Powerball jackpot was the fifth-largest jackpot in Powerball history. Wednesday's drawing will be the second largest Powerball jackpot ever.

• The winning numbers for Saturday, August 19, 2017 are: 17-68-19-43-39 and Powerball No. 13.

If you want to race out and buy the winning ticket for Wednesday’s big $650 million jackpot, find out where you can buy your Powerball tickets here, via the Connecticut Lottery website. Each ticket costs $2. Residents can purchase Powerball tickets until 10 p.m. on Saturday.

Drawings are televised every Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. on select Lottery draw stations.

The Powerball game is played by matching all five white balls in any order and the red Powerball number. The winning numbers for the Powerball drawing game are drawn from a field of one through 69 while the red Power Ball is drawn from a separate field of one through 26.

The odds of picking the correct Powerball grand prize numbers are one in 292,201,338.

The largest three Powerball jackpots up until now were:

• $1.6 Billion — January 2016
• $590.5 Million — February 2013
• $587.5 Million — November 2012

The record in the game was a $1.6 billion drawing in January 2016, which was won by a group of Tennessee workers. And five months ago, on Feb. 22, a lucky player in Indiana won the $435 million Powerball jackpot, the 10th largest in the game's history.

In the summer of 2016, a New Hampshire player won a $478 million prize; the June 10 win of $447 million was the eighth largest jackpot in the game's history.

If you still want to take a chance — someone has to win, right? — you have a better chance of hitting the jackpot if you let the computer pick your numbers. The Multi-State Lottery Association, which operates the Powerball game, says about 75 percent of winning tickets are selected when the numbers are chosen by a computer.

The lottery game is played in 44 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Powerball draws can be seen on hundreds of TV stations nationwide. It may also be available on cable or your mobile device. The draws are also posted on YouTube and on the Powerball site. Where to watch the Powerball drawing on TV.

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.

Patch Editor Deb Belt and Paige McAtee contributed to this article.
»Patch file photo