AUBURN, Wash. — Someone in Washington state overcame steep odds Monday night to win an estimated $754.6 million Powerball jackpot.
The winning numbers were 05, 11, 22, 23, 69 and the Powerball 7.
The winning ticket was sold at a Fred Meyer, located at 801 Auburn Way North, in Auburn.
Gloria Luzano has worked at that exact store for the past eight years. She and other employees hope the lucky ticket was sold to one of their regulars.
“We’re so happy that this store is the one that won the big one,” said Luzano.
According to Joshua Johnston with Washington’s Lottery, this is the largest jackpot the state has ever seen.
“It’s not very often that we get to give away that much money,” said Johnston. “In fact, we’ve never given away this much money.”
A winning ticket worth $90 million was also sold in Auburn in 2014.
According to Washington Lottery, the winner has not yet come forward to claim the prize.
The jackpot for the next drawing on Thursday has dropped to $20 million.
It was the first Powerball jackpot win since Nov. 19, 2022. That winless streak allowed the prize to grow larger and larger until it stood as the ninth-largest in U.S. history.
The estimated $754.6 million jackpot Monday is for a winner opting for an annuity paid over 29 years. Higher interest rates have allowed annuity payments to increase compared with earlier jackpots, when rates were lower.
Most winners prefer cash, which for Monday night’s drawing would be $407.2 million.
The game’s abysmal odds of 1 in 292.2 million are designed to build big prizes drawing more players. That strategy certainly has worked recently, as someone in Maine won a $1.35 billion Mega Millions prize in January and a California player hit a record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot last November. No one has claimed either of those prizes.
Powerball is played in 45 states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
©2023 Cox Media Group
