Powerball Rolls to $650 Million; Big Winners Sold Across PA

MIDDLETOWN, Pa., Aug. 21, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Powerball® jackpot has rolled to a $650 million annuity value for Wednesday, August 23, the game's second-largest jackpot on record.

Before it rolled, a winning Powerball ticket worth $1 million from the Saturday, August 19, 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 August 19 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 August 19 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, August 23, drawing. This is the game's highest jackpot offering since the world-record jackpot of nearly $1.6 billion in January 2016.

How to play Powerball: Players pay $2 and select five white balls from the first set of 69 numbers plus a single red ball, the Powerball, from a second set of 26 numbers. Players may select their own numbers using a Powerball playslip, or they may opt for computer-selected quick picks. Players must match all five numbers drawn plus the Powerball number to win the jackpot. There also are eight additional ways for players to win a cash prize.

Purchasing the $1 Power Play option allows a winner to increase lower-tier prizes by a factor of 2, 3, 4 or 5, depending on the Power Play number drawn. A 10X multiplier will be available for the Match 4+1 prize and lower prize tiers when the jackpot is at or below $150 million, or when announced. The jackpot and the Match 5 prize are not multiplied. The Match 5 prize with the Power Play option is worth $2 million. It is $1 million without Power Play.

Powerball is sold in 44 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In Pennsylvania, tickets are sold until 9:59 p.m. on drawing nights, Wednesday and Saturday.

About Us: The Pennsylvania Lottery remains the only state lottery to direct all proceeds to programs that benefit older residents. Since ticket sales began in 1972, it has contributed nearly $28 billion to fund property tax and rent rebates, transportation, care services, prescription assistance, and local services including senior centers and meals. 

Players must be 18 or older. Please play responsibly. Call 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) for help with a compulsive gambling problem.

Visit palottery.com for winning numbers, rules, chances of winning, and to join the VIP Players Club for second chances to win. Install our official mobile app, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

MEDIA CONTACT: Lottery Media Relations, 717-702-8008

SOURCE Pennsylvania Lottery

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