Powerball Jackpot Will Hit $2 Billion If No Winner Wednesday

At least one winning ticket was sold in Wednesday’s world-record $1.5 billion Powerball jackpot drawing, lottery officials confirmed.

To win the grand prize, the ticket must match all five numbers (in any order) and the red Powerball number.

Powerball players have spent an estimated $2.6 billion on tickets since the last jackpot was claimed in early November. One of those tickets was sold right here in Houston at a convenience store on Bellaire and Renwick in southwest Houston.

Lottery officials in Tennessee say the winning ticket for the record Powerball jackpot in their state was sold in Munford, north of Memphis.

No details were immediately available about the Florida victor. A store employee said the 7-Eleven had sold about $12,000 worth of tickets on Wednesday.

The California Lottery tweeted a jackpot winning ticket was sold in Chino Hills, though they are waiting for results from other states. Powerball is played in 44 states, Washington, D.C. and two USA territories. There are a few states that don’t release the names of lottery winners.

The winners can opt for annual payments over decades or a lump-sum payment. The identity of the winners was not yet known.

Crowds descended on the California store after word emerged it had sold a winning ticket, with excited customers snapping pictures and congratulating the sales associate.

The winners of the world-record jackpot overcame odds of 1 in 292.2 million to land on the numbers drawn Wednesday night, 4-8-19-27-34 and Powerball 10. Lottery prizes are exempt from California state and local personal income taxes due to the California State Lottery Act of 1984.

Most of the 50 US states allow lotteries to operate; but in the six that do not, much business was generated along the borders with states that do allow the sale of lottery tickets. Other state lotteries have not reacted yet to the Powerball drawing.