IL has Powerball winner, as jackpot grows to $1.7B

DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - Someone who bought a Powerball ticket in Illinois has an extra million bucks this holiday season.

It's not immediately clear where the ticket was purchased or who won. Powerball lottery officials said a total of ten tickets matched five numbers.

That effort nets $1 million in winnings (before taxes). The tickets were sold in Illinois, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and two in New York.

The numbers were: 3, 18, 36, 41, 54, PB: 7

No one matched all five numbers and the Powerball number, so the jackpot increases for Wednesday's drawing. The Illinois Lottery said seven people matched four numbers and the Powerball, which is good for $50,000.

Wednesday's $1.7 billion jackpot will be the fourth largest jackpot in Powerball history and fifth largest in U.S. lottery history.

"Historically, the Powerball jackpot has been won once on Christmas Eve (2011) and four times on Christmas Day (1996, 2002, 2010 and 2013)," Powerball said in a statement.

The Powerball jackpot for Wednesday's drawing started growing on Sept. 7. The Christmas Eve drawing will be the 47th in the current run, which marks a game record for the most drawings in a jackpot cycle.

If a player hits the jackpot Wednesday, they can choose between an annuitized prize estimated at $1.70 billion, or a lump sum payment estimated at $781.3 million. Both options are before taxes.

If the winner selects the annuity option, they get an immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments that increase by 5 percent each year.

According to lottery officials, the overall odds of winning a prize are 1 in 24.9. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.

Powerball is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. There are three drawings per week -- Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays -- and tickets cost $2 each. Adding the Power Play option, which can multiply winnings by two, three, four, five or 10 times, to a ticket costs an extra $1.

The largest Powerball jackpot ever awarded was in 2022 when a ticket in California won a $2.04 billion grand prize.

Wednesday's drawing is scheduled for 9:59 p.m. CT.