Powerball Jackpot Winner! Lucky Ohio Player To Pocket $122 Million Payout
The Powerball jackpot saw its sixth winner of 2014, in its 55th drawing of the year, as a single ticket purchased in Ohio matched all six numbers in the July 9 drawing to win a payout of $122 million. That’s the jackpot if the winner wants the money paid over 30 years in annual installments.
If the lucky Ohio player chooses, as most lottery winners do, to take the Powerball jackpot prize in a single lump sum, he or she will take home a check for $71.4 million, before taxes. After both Uncle Sam and the state of Ohio claim their shares — because the government wins the lottery every time — the winner will be left with a still-considerable $50.7 million.
Not quite the advertised $122 million Powerball jackpot, but still enough to change almost anyone’s life.
Powerball in 2014 has held 18 drawings with jackpots of more than $120 million. But the 17,572,074 tickets sold for Wednesday’s drawing made for the second-lowest total of any of those 18 drawings. On January 22, a Powerball jackpot worth $131 million was up for grabs, but attracted just 16.3 million ticket buyers, approximately.
But no one won that jackpot, and, in fact, the Powerball lottery went without a winner for another eight drawings after that, finally giving away a jackpot worth a whopping $425 million on February 19.
Wednesday’s Powerball jackpot winning ticket was purchased at this True North gas station and convenience store at 381 State St. in Conneaut, Ohio, east of Cleveland and not far from the Ohio-Pennsylvania border.
But nothing else is known about the latest Powerball jackpot winner yet. If the winner follows a typical pattern, it could be weeks or even months before the lucky ticket holder steps forward to claim the money. Lottery officials always advice winners to take some time before coming forward, to consult with attorneys and trusted financial advisers for solid advice on how to deal with sudden wealth.
Other than the jackpot, it was a good night for Powerball players on Wednesday, with $8,227,967 in prize money won, spread across 547,444 winning tickets. But more than half of that total was won by just four tickets.
Three of those four matched the first five numbers, but not the Power Ball, to claim prizes of $1 million. The three tickets were sold in Florida. Georgia and New Jersey. The fourth ticket also hit the “Match 5,” but was purchased with the Power Play option activated. That North Carolina ticket, then, earns its holder $2 million.
Was any of Wednesday’s Powerball money yours? Check your ticket against the following numbers, drawn at 10:59 pm in Tallahassee, Florida.
9 — 25 — 42 — 55 — 57 Powerball 14
The Powerball jackpot now resets to the minimum $40 million, or $23.4 million cash value, for Saturday’s drawing.
