Oregon Lottery Winners Took Home Nearly $1 Million Last Week

SALEM, OR — While the big winner of Wednesday's Powerball drawing was a Massachusetts woman who pulled in a whopping $758 million jackpot, more than 100,000 winning Powerball tickets were sold in Oregon, delivering roughly $913,000 in prizes to Oregon residents.

"In Oregon, we had six $50,000 Powerball winners," Oregon Lottery Spokesman Chuck Baumann said in a statement. "One of those ticket holders added the Power Play multiplier. The number four was drawn as the multiplier making their original $50,000 prize worth $200,000!"

The most recent jackpot Powerball win was claimed by a Medford couple in 2005 when they took home $340 million. The jackpot won Wednesday in Massachusetts, claimed by Mavis Wanczyk, is reportedly the largest won on a single ticket in any North American lottery.

"When jackpots get that large, sales soar as players come out for a chance to win and to dream a little," Oregon Lottery Director Barry Pack said. "For every dollar played on Powerball in Oregon, half stays in Oregon to help fund programs and projects such as public schools, job creation, state parks and natural resources."

According to Oregon Lottery officials, the state has netted nearly $5.4 million in Powerball sales since the drawing on Aug. 19, and the sales for the Aug. 23 drawing raked in more than $3 million.

Since 1985, when the Oregon Lottery began selling tickets, lottery revenues have brought in more than $11 billion, officials said. These dollars reportedly go toward economic development, public education, state parks, and watershed treatments.

For more information about the Oregon Lottery, visit www.oregonlottery.org.

Image via the Oregon Lottery