Powerball winning numbers drawing yields winner in Indiana for lottery jackpot of $435M

ByCNN

Thursday, February 23, 2017

HOUSTON -- An Indiana lottery official says the sole winning ticket for an estimated $435 million Powerball jackpot was sold in the city of Lafayette.

The winning ticket was purchased at the Super Test at 1609 Sagamore Parkway South, in Lafayette.

The $435.3 million estimated jackpot is the seventh largest in the history of the game and offers the winner the chance to take payment of the estimated $435.3 million as a 30-year annuity or in a one-time lump sum estimated payment of $263.5 million (both before taxes).

The ticket holder should ensure their ticket is in a secure place, consider meeting with a financial advisor and contact Hoosier Lottery customer service at 1-800-955-6886 for specific claim instructions.

Lafayette is about 60 miles northwest of Indianapolis.

The winning numbers in Wednesday's drawing were 10-13-28-52-61 and Powerball 2.

Powerball is played in 44 states, plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The top prize falls to $40 million for the next drawing Saturday night.

If it seems like massive Powerball jackpots have become relatively common, that's because they have.

Five of the ten largest Powerball jackpots have come since the start of last year. The reason: Powerball changed up its formula in October 2015 so that players have more numbers to choose from.

More numbers mean longer odds of a winner -- the odds of winning Powerball are now 1 in 292 million. Before the switch, the Powerball odds were 1 in 175 million.

With fewer winners, the jackpot has the chance to grow bigger week after week.

The biggest jackpot ever happened about a year ago in January 2016, soon after the odds changed. The payout reached a record $1.6 billion -- the one and only time it has crossed the billion dollar mark. But it also got above $400 million in May, July and November of last year.

Meanwhile, the Mega Millions game, which costs half as much to play, has only had four jackpots in its history that topped $400 million. Only one of those big payouts, a $536 million jackpot, came last year. The odds against winning Mega Millions are a mere 1 in 259 million.

Of course the size of those jackpots are somewhat inflated. They assume the winner decides to take annuity payments spread out over 29 years. But virtually every jackpot winner chooses to take a smaller, lump sum payment up front. For Wednesday's Powerball, that prize is estimated at $244 million.

Additionally, players only collect the entire prize if they are the sole winner, but the jackpots often have to be split between people with the same numbers.

Here's a look at the 10 highest jackpots and where the winners were from:

1. $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot January 13, 2016 in California, Florida and Tennessee.

2. $656.0 million, Mega Millions, March 30, 2012 (three tickets from Kansas, Illinois and Maryland)

3. $636 million, Mega Millions, Dec. 17, 2013, (two tickets, from California and Georgia)

4. $590.5 million, Powerball, May 18, 2013 (one ticket from Florida)

5. $587.5 million, Powerball, Nov. 28, 2012 (two tickets from Arizona and Missouri)

6. $564.1 million, Powerball, Feb. 11, 2015 (three tickets, from North Carolina, Puerto Rico and Texas)

7. $448.4 million, Powerball, Aug. 7, 2013, (three tickets, one from Minnesota and two from New Jersey)

8. $435.3 million, Powerball, Feb. 22, 2017 (one ticket from Indiana)

9. $425.3 million, Powerball, Feb. 19, 2014 (one ticket from California)

10. $414 million, Mega Millions, March 18, 2014, (two tickets from Florida and Maryland)

The prize is based on an annuity, which would pay out the money over 29 years. Or you can take the lump sum cash payment at once, but you'd have to pay the tax.

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