$50K Winning Powerball Ticket Sold In Connecticut: Check Your Tickets

A week after the second-largest Powerball jackpot in history — a whopping $758 million — was won by a Massachusetts woman, the game's prize is rebuilding and reached $53 million for the Wednesday, Aug. 30, drawing. A Connecticut resident won $50,000 Wednesday night by matching four numbers and the Powerball.

No one across the country won the $53 million jackpot Wednesday and that means the Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017 jackpot is now $68 million and the cash value is $43.2 million, according to the Connecticut Lottery. A total of 10,232 "winning" Powerball tickets were sold in Connecticut for Wednesday's drawing. Outside of the $50,000 winner, 18 people won $100 and 9 people won $200. Everyone else "won" between $4 and $14.

The winning Powerball numbers for Wednesday, Aug. 30, are: 19, 28, 43, 67, 69 and the Powerball of 07.

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. Powerball drawings are held every Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. Eastern time. (SIGN UP: Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

The record in the game was a $1.6 billion drawing in January 2016, which was shared by three winners in Florida, Tennessee and California; that was followed by the Aug. 23 win of $758 million. And on Feb. 22, a lucky player in Indiana won the $435 million Powerball jackpot, the 10th largest in the game's history.

The largest three Powerball jackpots ever are:

• $1.6 Billion — January 2016
• $758 Million — August 2017
• $590.5 Million — February 2013

The January 2016 record Powerball jackpot was worth nearly $1.6 billion. But Americans will still drop by the nearest convenience store with dreams of cash and buy a ticket. 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; 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.

Written by Deb Belt and Brian McCready, Patch Staff
»Patch file photo