$1.9B Powerball Jackpot Won, Game Ends In PA

PENNSYLVANIA — A winning ticket was sold in California for the $1.9 billion Powerball jackpot at the Monday, Nov.8, drawing that had lottery players in Georgia and the rest of the country dreaming about what they’d do with all that money.

It is a lot of money, the biggest prize ever in U.S. lottery history. The numbers were 10, 33, 41, 47 and 56, with a Powerball of 10.

Players had to wait nearly 10 hours until Tuesday morning to check their tickets after “technical difficulties,” lottery officials said.

Had no winning ticket been drawn, the jackpot would have swelled to $2.04 billion.

If a local had held lucky ticket, their winnings would've been taxed at a rate of 3.07 percent in Pennsylvania. Players in Pennsylvania have won 19 jackpots in history.

The frenzied pace of ticket-buying didn’t “break” Powerball Monday night. Rather, game officials said the delay came after one of the participating state lotteries was unable to process its sales data.

“Powerball requires all 48 participating lotteries to submit their sales and play data prior to the winning numbers being selected,” the Multi-State Lottery Association said in a statement. The organization declined to say in which state the delay occurred.

No one has claimed the prize since Aug. 3.

A Powerball ticket costs $2. For an additional $1 per ticket, players can multiply non-jackpot prizes by up to 10 times with the Power Play feature. One caveat: The 10X multiplier is only available when the advertised jackpot annuity is $150 million or less.

To win the jackpot, a player must match all white balls in any order and the red Powerball number. Lottery officials say chances are higher when players don’t choose their own numbers. About 75 percent of winning tickets over the years were picked by a computer.

Drawings are held three times a week, at 10:59 p.m. EST on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

In addition to the winning Powerball number, millions of smaller prizes will be paid out after the latest draw.