Powerball player misses out on $1.8 billion jackpot by a single number — yet there’s good news
Christmas Eve saw fortunes change as the Powerball draw helped someone win the second-largest jackpot in American history, worth a whopping $1.817 billion. But no one has come forward to claim the prize yet. On the other hand, the person who won the second prize after missing out on the jackpot by a single digit did turn up to claim a six-figure prize.
It was reduced to a five-figure sum after all the necessary taxes were deducted. The player was a man named Jeffrey Dimond of Spotsylvania County, as per a report in The New York Post. The player chose the Easy Pick option at a Wawa outside Fredericksburg and matched five of the six numbers. He was even able to match the Powerball number. The winning numbers, as per the report, were 4, 25, 31, 52, 59, and the Powerball 19.
Lottery officials did not reveal which number Dimond had missed out on, but they did reveal that the player won $100,000. Usually, a player with four correct white numbers plus the Powerball usually wins $50,000, but this case was different. Diamond had paid an extra dollar to opt for the “Power Play.” This meant that whatever he won would be doubled. One could only imagine the money he’d have if he hit the jackpot.
Despite not getting the big one, Dimond beat a lot of odds to win his $100,000. He had a 1 in 913,129.18 chance to match four numbers plus the Powerball. The chances of winning any Powerball prize are 1 in 25. The odds of winning the jackpot by matching all six Powerball numbers are just 1 in 292,201,338. Those are some massive odds that the jackpot owner had to overcome.
The ticket holder of the jackpot winner purchased it from a Murphy Express gas station in Arkansas and has yet to claim their big win. Alejandra Barron, a spokesperson for the company, told local news station Wane15 that a telephone message was left at the store on Friday, but it has not been returned yet. This is the second time that a major jackpot-winning ticket was sold at a Murphy USA store.
The ticket was purchased in the city of Cabot, and the news of the big lottery win made Mayor Ken Kincaid quite excited. “It’s all over Facebook, Twitter. Everyone’s talking about it and wants to know who it is.” He did hope, however, that the winner was a resident of his city. “I hope it’s a citizen from Cabot, of course. That would be wonderful," he added.
The lucky winner has 180 days to claim the prize, and will also have the option to take the annuitized price of $1.817 billion or a lump sum payment of $834.9, both pre-tax.
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