A single person in South Caroline hit the jackpot winning the 400 million dollar Powerball yesterday. This is one of the biggest prizes in the multi-state game in its history. According to NBC’s US News “the ticket holder can claim an annuity valued at $400 million or take a lump sum in cash of $223 million- about $134 million after taxes.”
According to Paula Harper Bethea, the educational lottery executive director, the ticket was sold in the town of Lexington, with a population of just under 20,000 in the center of the Palmetto state. So far the winner of the lottery has been advised to “sign the back of the ticket, put it in a safe location, seek financial or legal advice form a trusted source, and then come forward to claim the ticket.”
The store that sold the winning ticket plans on holding a press conference. The Powerball posted the odds of winning after 11 drawings that were “winnerless,” at 1 in 175 million. This past august three people claimed a ticket that was worth $448 million. Another winner in may, an 84 year old Florida widow won the largest Powerball jackpot in history, winning $600 million. Powerball is popular in the U.S., and is played in 43 states in the Union.