Top 10 Powerball jackpots and what we know: Who won and where winning tickets were bought
Millionaires and billionaires — thanks to a little game of chance called the Powerball.
It's no surprise that when lotteries roll over for weeks and months at a time, lotto fever hits us big. Is it luck? Is it strategy? Does using the same numbers over and over again, week after week pay off?
We will never know.
However, this writeup includes some details about the biggest Powerball winners in the history of the game — where they bought a ticket, whether they were part of a pool, and in at least one case, how an act of kindness paid off big.
As of July 29, 2022, here are the Top 10 Powerball jackpots.
(Check back for updates on this story as Powerball jackpots roll over.)
Powerball, Mega Millions: Of Top 10 largest lottery jackpots ever, 3 were claimed in January
Who won the Top 10 largest lottery jackpot prizes ever? List of Powerball, Mega Millions winners
10. $564.1 million, Feb. 11, 2015
Three tickets sold in North Carolina, Puerto Rico and Texas clinched the $564.1 million Powerball jackpot on Feb. 11, 2015.
According to a story on powerball.com, the ticket sold in Texas was claimed by "TL Management Trust, Andrew Weber, Trustee of Austin for $127,046,150.05 cash value."
Powerball's site states: "The ticket was purchased at the Appletree Food Mart, located at 893 E. Princeton Drive in Princeton. For selling the jackpot-winning ticket, the retailer is eligible for a $1 million bonus. Winning tickets were also sold in North Carolina and Puerto Rico."
9. $587.5 million, Nov. 28, 2012
Two tickets sold in Arizona and Missouri matched all six numbers to win the record $587.5 million Powerball jackpot on Nov. 28, 2012. It was not clear whether the winning tickets belonged to individuals or groups.
For this $587.5 million prize, Powerball tickets were snapped up at a rate of 7 million an hour
8. $590.5 million, May 18, 2013
One man's good deed paid off — literally!
An 84-year-old Florida woman named Gloria MacKenzie told lottery officials a man allowed her to go in front of him in line. MacKenzie ended up winning a massive Powerball jackpot of $590.5 million on May 18, 2013. She chose the lump-sum payment, worth $370.8 million before taxes.
According to a story in USA TODAY, MacKenzie bought the winning ticket at a Publix in Zephyrhills, which is 30 miles northeast of Tampa. The mother of four, grandmother and great-grandmother, "did not speak to reporters outside lottery headquarters. But lottery officials say that MacKenzie told them as she was waiting in line to buy her ticket, a man allowed her to go in front of him, enabling her to purchase the winning quick-pick ticket. Previously, she had purchased four additional tickets ahead of the May 18 drawing," the story states.
Wow! 84-year-old woman wins massive Powerball jackpot
7. $632.6 million, Jan. 5, 2022
Two tickets purchased in California and Wisconsin split the $632.6 million Powerball jackpot for Jan. 5, 2022. In addition to the grand prize winners, 14 other tickets won million-dollar prizes, including one in New Jersey, according to a story on northjersey.com, a USA TODAY Network site.
That's some cool cash: $632.6 million Powerball jackpot winning tickets sold in California and Wisconsin
6. $687.8 million, Oct. 27, 2018
Two winners from Iowa and New York split the $687.8 million Powerball jackpot, which had a cash option of $396.2 million, in the Oct. 27, 2018, drawing.
According to a story in the Delaware News Journal, a USA TODAY Network newspaper, "15 tickets matched all five white balls but missed matching the red Powerball ... Thirteen of those tickets won $1 million. The tickets were sold in California (2), Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina, New Jersey (2), New York (2), Ohio, and Texas (2). Two other tickets sold in Florida and Texas won a $2 million prize because the tickets included the Power Play option for an extra $1."
In addition, the story states, "there were three $50,000 winners in Delaware, according to the Delaware Lottery's website. In total, there were more than 3.5 million winning tickets across all prize tiers."
Oh, lucky day! Two winners from Iowa and New York to split $687 million Powerball jackpot
5. $699.8 million, Oct. 4, 2021
One ticket matched all numbers in the Oct. 4, 2021, Powerball drawing to win $699.8 million. It was purchased at Albertsons supermarket in Morro Bay, California, and the retailer received $1 million for selling the ticket, according to a story in The Record in Bergen, N.J., a USA TODAY Network newspaper. The winner had a cash option of $495,980,160.52.
An amazing payday: $699.8 million Powerball winning ticket sold in California
4. $731.1 million, Jan. 20, 2021
An anonymous group from Maryland won the $731.1 million Powerball jackpot — the largest lottery win in Maryland Lottery history. The winners called themselves “The Power Pack” and bought a single ticket Jan. 20, 2021, at Coney Market in Lonaconing, Maryland. That's in Allegany County, located in northwestern Maryland.
The Daily American, a USA TODAY Network newspaper, reported in January 2021: "The latest jackpot-winning Powerball ticket, worth $731.1 million, was sold in a struggling coal mining town whose biggest previous claim to fame was being the hometown of baseball legend Lefty Grove. ... The store will get a $100,000 bonus for selling the ticket."
Hard-luck Maryland town: gets $731.1 million Powerball win. The store that sold the ticket gets a cool hundred thou
SO close to winning: Iowan missed the Powerball jackpot by 1 number, settles for $50,000 instead of $731.1 million
3. $758.7 million, Aug. 23, 2017
This massive Powerball jackpot smashed a previous record for the biggest win for a single ticket when Mavis Wanczyk of Massachusetts won it on Aug. 23, 2017.
However, soon after Wanczyk's $758.7 million win, a stroke of bad luck befell the lottery winner's name via social media.
According to a July 2021 story on ABC27.com, after Wanczyk won, "several fake social media accounts popped up using her name claiming she was giving away money in exchange for personal information. Four years later, new text messages are now circulating claiming Wanczyk is donating $5,000 to 200 random individuals who were selected after a 'spin ball.' The message instructs the recipient to text a number to receive their money."
This was a scam, and experts say people should never give out their personal information via text message or email to strangers. And if the text message or email looks fishy, it probably is.
2. $768.4 million, March 27, 2019
A 24-year-old Wisconsin man named Manuel Franco won the $768.4 million Powerball on March 27, 2019. Franco bought the winning ticket at a Speedway in New Berlin, Wisconsin. The jackpot was then the third largest in U.S. history, and Franco told reporters in 2019 that winning "feels like a dream." According to news reports, before winning the $768 million Powerball drawing, Franco was just trying to save $1,000 in the bank.
At 24, this man won $768 million: See Manuel Franco claim a historic Powerball jackpot
1. $1.59 billion, Jan. 13, 2016
Three winners claimed the Powerball prize that would be the biggest jackpot in history — $1.586 billion split three ways. Maureen Smith and David Kaltschmidt of Melbourne Beach, Florida; Marvin and Mae Acosta of California; and John and Lisa Robinson of Tennessee claimed the three tickets with a cash value of $327.8 million each.
Contributing: Rachael Thomas, USA TODAY Network-Florida; John Bacon, Doug Stanglin, Gary Strauss and Dalvin Brown, USA TODAY; Channing King, USA TODAY Network; Chris Sims, Indianapolis Star; Daniel J. Gross, The Greenville News; Sarah Hauer, JournalSentinel.com; John Connolly, northjersey.com; Jessica Bies, Delaware News Journal
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Powerball lottery jackpots: Who won, what we know about Top 10 payouts
