Winning $338 Million Powerball Jackpot Ticket Sold in New Jersey
One ticket matched all six winning numbers.
March 24, 2013— -- A single Powerball ticket sold in New Jersey matched all six numbers in Saturday night's drawing for the $338.3 million jackpot, lottery officials said today.
The jackpot was the sixth largest in history.
Watch Video: $338 Million Powerball Winner Sold
Thirteen other tickets matched five numbers but were missing the Powerball. Those tickets will earn a payout of $1 million each, according to lottery officials, and were sold in New Jersey, Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia.
Lottery officials said there was one Power Play Match 5 winning ticket sold in Iowa, which is worth $2 million.
The winning numbers were 17, 29, 31, 52, 53 and Powerball 31. If the winner chooses to take the lump sum payout, he or she will receive $221 million.
The New Jersey State Lottery said details about the winning ticket will be revealed Monday. Officials declined to say where the ticket was purchased or whether a winner had come forward, The Associated Press reported.
The new jackpot has been reset to $40 million, according to the Powerball website.
The largest Powerball jackpot ever, totaling $587.5 million, came in November when a Missouri couple and an Arizona man split the winnings.
The price of a Powerball ticket doubled in January 2012 from $1 a game to $2, which has accounted for the swelling jackpots.
"We redesigned the game and with more money going into the game, the jackpot prize pool has doubled so more people are playing because the jackpot is growing higher," Multi-State Lottery Association President Jim Haynes said.
Powerball is offered in 44 states and your chances of striking it rich are one in 175,000,000, meaning you'd have been 25 times more likely to win an Academy Award.
"For $2, it's inexpensive entertainment and you can buy a part of the dream," Haynes said.
