The Biggest Powerball Jackpots of All Time

• WHAT IS POWERBALL?
• POWERBALL RECORD JACKPOT WINNERS
• $2.04 BILLION
• $1.765 BILLION
• $1.586 BILLION
• $1.326 BILLION
• $1.08 BILLION
• HOW TO BET ON POWERBALL FROM IRELAND
• HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO BET ON POWERBALL FROM IRELAND?
• I WON A POWERBALL PRIZE - WHAT NOW?
• BECOME THE NEXT POWERBALL WINNER

WHAT IS POWERBALL?

Powerball is an American lottery which was formed in April 1992, replacing the original Lotto America which ran from 1988 – 1992. Powerball is available in 46 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Draws take place on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10.59 Eastern Time (02.59 GMT / 03.59 BST). This means that in Ireland, the draws take place at 4 am on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Powerball is operated by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL).

The current Powerball jackpot is an estimated *€163 million and can reach up into the billions! Unlike the major European lottos, Powerball has no jackpot cap and keeps rolling until the jackpot is won, this leads to such huge jackpots.

*Tier 1 winning bets on PowerBall are paid out as a 30-year annuity or discounted lump sum at Lottoland’s election, and Tiers 1 – 3 are also subject to a 38% reduction as per T&C's. Forbes has written an article which explains how a billion-dollar win would be taxed.

POWERBALL RECORD JACKPOT WINNERS

Only 11 states in the US allow lottery winners to remain anonymous, these states are: Arizona, Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, Virginia and Texas.

As the majority of states require the winner to reveal their identities, we are able to find out a bit about their stories, which sometimes can be quite interesting. Here are the biggest Powerball jackpot winners.

Top 5 Powerball JAckpots
Jackpot	Date	Winning Location
$2.04 Billion	7 November 2022	California
$1.765 Billion	11 October 2023	California
$1.586 Billion*	13 January 2016	Florida, Tennessee, California
$1.326 Billion	7 April 2024	Oregon
$1.08 Billion	19 July 2023	California

*Shared between three tickets.

#1) $2.04 billion (€1.975 billion)  – Nov. 7, 2022 - California

Edwin Castro became the largest single-ticket winner of the world's largest lottery jackpot. The lucky person won an astonishing $2.04 billion on November 7, 2022, after betting on the winning numbers 10, 33, 41, 47, & 56 and the Powerball 10.

He bought the winning ticket at Joe’s Service Center in California and Powerball have gifted a 1 million dollar reward directly back into this small business owner's account after selling the single winning ticket. 

#2) $1.765 billion (€1.666 billion)  – Oct. 11, 2023 - California

On October 11, 2023, the second-largest jackpot in history was made with the Powerball Jackpot of $1.765 billion with a cash value of $774.1 million. The winning numbers were 22, 24, 40, 52, 64 with the Powerball 10. 

These numbers were won by a single ticket meaning it is also the second-largest single ticket win ever. 

#3) $1.586 billion (€1.497 billion)  – Jan. 13, 2016 - Florida, Tennessee and California

On January 13, 2016, the Powerball jackpot of $1.586 billion was won. The lucky numbers were 4,8,18,27 and 34 with the Powerball 10. The prize money was split between three tickets, won in three different states. The three winning couples opted for the lump sum of $328 million.

David Kaltschmidt and Maureen Smith - Florida

Originally from Long Island, New York but residing in Melbourne Beach, Florida, David lost 10 lbs from stress before the couple even collected their prize. David purchased an SUV and Maureen a gold Tesla but the couple decided to remain in their $300,000 home located in a prime real estate location by the sea, which included a dock for David’s 15 ft fishing boat. As the couple were already relatively well-off and enjoying their life in Florida, not a great deal changed in terms of their lifestyle with neighbours claiming, ‘they were nice, humble people before and they are exactly the same now’.

John and Lisa Robinson – Tennessee

The Robinsons initially claimed they would be staying in the modest home in Munford, John stated “we’re just like y’all. These big fancy houses are nice, but you gotta clean ‘em”. However, six months later, the Robinson family was living in a $6.2 million, 10-bedroom mansion on 320 acres (129 hectares) of land including a private lake.

You can’t really blame them after winning $328 million, they would still have had plenty left over to live out the rest of their days. They were living a modest, small-town, middle-class life prior to their win, unlike David and Maureen who were already living it up in Florida.

Marvin and Mae Acosta – California

This couple from Chino Hills was in no rush to go on a spending spree as they took 6 months to claim their prize, reportedly ‘laying low on purpose’. According to California Lottery Director Hugo Lopez, the couple had read their ‘Winner’s Handbook’ and assembled a team of legal and financial advisors.

This was later confirmed by the couple who said that would commit ‘nearly all of this new resource to a Trust and to charities that are important (to them)’. This win was also great news for Balbir Atwal, owner of the 7-Eleven which sold the ticket, who received a mega bonus of $1 million for selling the ticket.

#4) $1.326 billion (€1.243 billion) – Apr. 7, 2024 - Anonymous -Oregon

An anonymous individual from Oregon won the $1.326 billion (€1.243 billion) Powerball Jackpot with a cash value of $621 million (€582 million). This makes this winner the fourth biggest Powerball winner to date!

The draw was supposed to take place on the 6th April, 2024. However, due to a technial issue the draw was delayed by a day so it took place on the 7th April, 2024.

The winning numbers were 22, 27, 44, 52 and 69 with the Powerball number of 9. 

#5) $1.08 billion (€974.8 million) – Jul. 19, 2023 - Anonymous -California

This extraordinary event which took place on July 19, 2023, has turned into a historic jackpot streak, making it only the fifth time in Powerball's 31-year history that the prize has reached an astonishing billion-dollar mark.

The winning numbers for the night's draw were 7, 10, 11, 13, and 24, with the Powerball number being 24. Surprisingly, the ticket that secured this massive jackpot was sold at the Las Palmitas Mini Market in Los Angeles. However, the lucky winner's identity remains a mystery, as it's still unknown whether they are a local resident, part of a group purchase, or simply a passerby who took a chance.

HOW TO BET ON POWERBALL FROM IRELAND

You can only buy tickets for Powerball in the United States but fortunately, you don’t need to cross the Atlantic as you can bet on PowerBall from Ireland with Lottoland. Just create an account, pick your numbers and wish for the best. All from the comfort of your own home!

To win the jackpot, you need to match 5 numbers from 1 to 69 plus a Powerball from 1 to 26. The odds of winning Powerball are 1 in 292,201,338.

PowerPlay is an additional feature which enables you to win more money on lower tier prizes. If you win a prize on tier 2 with the PowerPlay option, your winnings are doubled! Any other non-jackpot prizes will be doubled either x2, x3 or x5 depending on the PowerPlay ball that is drawn. If the jackpot is below $150 million, an additional x10 PowerPlay ball is added. 

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO BET ON POWERBALL FROM IRELAND?

A single bet costs €3.50. 

However, during high jackpot periods, Lottoland reserves the right to increase the line of a single bet.

I WON A POWERBALL PRIZE – WHAT NOW?

All of our Irish customers are automatically verified, for large sums such as Powerball jackpots, an additional document scan may potentially be requested to ensure the money goes to the right person. For smaller prizes, they will be automatically credited and your money will arrive in your bank account within a few business days. Of course, if you're lucky enough to hit the Powerball jackpot, we'll contact you by phone to share the good news!

Lottoland guarantees a pay-out of all winnings with its unique insurance model, even the highest Powerball jackpots. However, Lottoland replicates the pay-out structure of the official draws in the US and for this reason, the total prize is reduced by 38% to make allowances for the tax that the official winners in tiers 1 to 3 would have to pay. Payment can be received as instalments over 30 years or as a lump sum paid out at 60% of the total value of the annuity amount.

BECOME THE NEXT POWERBALL WINNER

Now that you're a professional on how to bet on the PowerBall from Ireland - why not bet with Lottoland? Simply sit back and relax and bet on one of the biggest American lotteries from the comfort of your house in Ireland with a touch of a button on your mobile/laptop! 

So, good luck and who knows, we may be including you in the next list of top Powerball winners... 

Updated: 23rd April 2024