In Wednesday night’s Powerball draw, one player from Pennsylvania matched five numbers to win $1 million. If they had used the Power Play, which was 2X last night, they would have won $2 million.
Four people won $50,000 by matching four numbers and the Powerball and one player doubled their prize to $100,000 using the Power Play. Additionally, 660 players won $100 by matching either four numbers or three numbers, and the Powerball and 200 players won $200 using the Power Play.
More than 22,000 players won $7 in last night’s Powerball by matching either three numbers or two numbers and the Powerball and nearly 7,000 players doubled their prize to $14 using the Power Play.
Finally, nearly 300,000 players won $4 by matching either one number and the Powerball or just the Powerball, and nearly 100,000 doubled their prize to $8 using the Powerplay.
Powerball reported that one player won $1 million in a previous drawing after asking his family to help him pick his numbers. Jonathan Gonzalez, from Salisbury in North Carolina, asked his family members to each choose a number between 1 and 69, and he himself chose the Powerball.
Gonzales’ family members—grandparents, his uncle, his father, and his sister—matched all five white balls in the drawing, beating odds of 1 in 11.6 million to win the $1 million prize.
Gonzales told Powerball: “I picked the Powerball number and that was the only one I didn’t match.”
Gonzalez claimed his prize on May 18, at the lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After state and federal tax withholdings, he took home $707,501, which he said he will share with the family members who helped him.
He revealed that a year ago they lost their home to a fire, a day after his birthday. Gonzales also said he planned to pay off his mortgage.
To play in Saturday night’s draw, purchase a ticket for $2 from a licensed lottery retailer. Choose five numbers between 1 and 69, or like Gonzales, have your family members help choose them, and select one number between 1 and 26 for the Powerball.
For an additional $1 per play, select the Power Play feature which will multiply non-jackpot prizes by 2, 3, 4, 5 or 10 times, and the multiplier number is randomly selected just before each drawing. The 10X multiplier is only in play when the advertised jackpot annuity is $150 million or less, and the Match 5 prize with Power Play is always $2 million.
