Frenzy ramps up as jackpot soars past $650 million
MIDDLETOWN, PA. » The Powerball jackpot has rolled to a $650 million annuity value for Wednesday the game’s second-largest jackpot on record.
Before it rolled, a winning Powerball ticket worth $1 million from the Saturday drawing was sold at Whitpain Beverage, 1667 Dekalb Pike, Blue Bell, Montgomery County.
The ticket correctly matched all five white balls drawn, 17-19-39-43-68, but not the red Powerball 13, to win $1 million, less applicable tax withholding. The store earns a $5,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.
In addition, two winning Pennsylvania Lottery Powerball with Power Play tickets worth $200,000 each from the Saturday drawing were sold at MJ’s Mini Mart, 275 Fairview Road, Kersey, Elk County and Montrose Convenience Store, 11046 Route 29, South Montrose, Susquehanna County.
Those tickets correctly matched four of the five white balls drawn, and matched the red Powerball, to win $200,000, less applicable tax withholding. It was sold with the $1 Power Play option, which boosted the prize to $200,000 instead of $50,000 because Saturday’s multiplier was four.
Prizes must be claimed and tickets validated before winners can be identified. Pennsylvania Lottery Powerball winners have one year from the drawing date to claim prizes. The Lottery encourages the holder of a winning ticket to sign the back of the ticket, call the Lottery at 717-702-8146 and file a claim at Lottery headquarters in Middletown, Dauphin County, or at any of Lottery’s seven area offices.
Claims may be filed at headquarters Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at area offices.
More than 274,400 Pennsylvania Lottery Powerball tickets won prizes of various amounts in the Saturday drawing, including 53,295 tickets purchased with the Power Play option that multiplied their prizes by four.
Players should check every ticket, every time, and immediately sign winning tickets. Lower-tier prizes may be claimed at a Lottery retailer.
The Powerball jackpot rolled to an estimated annuity value of $650 million, or $411.7 million cash, for the Wednesday drawing. This is the game’s highest jackpot offering since the world-record jackpot of nearly $1.6 billion in January 2016.