The Biggest Powerball Jackpots of All Time

• WHAT IS POWERBALL?
• POWERBALL RECORD JACKPOT WINNERS
• $1.586 BILLION
• $768.4 MILLION
• $758.7 MILLION
• $731.1 MILLION
• $699.8 MILLION
• $687.8 MILLION
• HOW TO BET ON POWERBALL FROM INDIA
• HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO BET ON POWERBALL FROM INDIA?
• 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 which equates 8:30 am (IST) on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday mornings in India. Powerball is operated by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL).

Unlike the major European lottos, Powerball has no jackpot cap and keeps rolling until the jackpot is won, this leads to such huge jackpots.

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.

*Shared between three tickets.

**Shared between two tickets.

Note that lottery jackpot wins in the US are subject to an initial federal tax of 24%. However, the top federal marginal tax rate of 37% is deducted by the IRS, plus additional state and local taxes may apply depending on where the ticket was purchased. If the winner chooses to take home their winnings as a lump sum as opposed to the annuity option, the total is reduced further. Therefore, the total amount that the winner takes home is significantly reduced, although, for these mega jackpots, the final amount still ranges into the hundreds of millions. Forbes has written an article which explains how a billion dollar win would be taxed.

#1) $1.586 billion – Jan. 13, 2016 - Florida, Tennessee and California

On January 13, 2016, history was made. The Powerball jackpot of $1.586 billion remains the largest lottery jackpot in history. 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.

#2) $768.4 million – Mar. 27, 2019 - Manuel Franco, Wisconsin

The jackpot was won by a single ticket purchased at a Speedway in New Berlin, near Milwaukee. The owner of the ticket was a young man by the name of Manuel Franco, who opted to be paid the lump sum of $477 million, taking home $326 million after tax. Just 24 years old at the time of his win, Manuel said he was unsure what his future holds but he wanted to “help out the world”, but first he wanted to “take a break” in order not to make any bad decisions, vowing to be responsible and “do it right”, making sure his future is secure.

Manuel said he “felt lucky” and purchased $10 worth of individual Powerball tickets. After buying his tickets, he looked into the shop’s camera and contemplated winking at it as he had a “lucky feeling”. Manuel claims to have been playing Powerball since he was 18, purchasing his first ticket on his 18^th birthday.

#3) $758.7 million – Aug. 23 – 2017, Mavis L. Wanczyk – Massachusetts

Even if you are required to reveal your identity, it is advisable to take your time to come forward and wait for the hype to die down, this also gives you time to seek legal advice and think about how to properly invest your winnings. Although, this is of course easier said than done. Could you imagine how difficult it would be to know that you have all that money waiting for you?

Mavis Wanczyk from Chicopee, Massachusetts, could not wait at all! The first thing she did was call up the medical centre which had been her workplace for 32 years and told them she would not be coming back. Within 24 hours of her win, Mavis was already speaking to the press. She took home the lump sum which came to approximately $336 million after tax.

#4) $731.1 million – Jan. 20, 2021 - Anonymous, Maryland

Someone struck gold in the struggling coal-mining town of Lonaconing on January 20, 2021. Anonymous winners, who went by the nickname, “The Power Pack,” have claimed the prize, choosing the $546.8 million lump sum cash option, approximately $366 million, after federal and state taxes.

Although the winner remained anonymous, the secret may prove hard to keep if the winner is local as the remote town has a population of just over a thousand inhabitants, around 300 families. Despite walking into a windfall, the Power Pack explained to Lottery officials that they have no plans to change their lifestyles. Instead, they preferred to invest the winnings to take care of their families and positively impact their communities “for generations to come.”

#5) $699.8 million – Oct. 4, 2021 - Anonymous, California

After nearly four months without a winner, a single ticket sold in California has won the Powerball jackpot worth $699.8 million, officials have said. A single ticket sold in the Golden State matched all six numbers drawn. The top prize had been growing since early June when a ticket sold in Florida won $286 million. 

For this $699.8 million Powerball prize, the winner would have been able to choose between the annuity option paid over 29 years or the cash option of $496 million.

#6) $687.8 million – Oct. 27, 2018 - Robert Bailey, New York & Lerynne West, Iowa

Persistence paid off for Robert Bailey from New York who won the Powerball after playing the same lottery numbers for nearly three decades. Despite his win, the 67-year-old said he would continue playing his numbers “until this train runs out” but vowed he would “do the right thing and take care of it for the next generation in (his) family”. Sensible Robert “talked business” with a lawyer and financial adviser and remained tight-lipped about his future investments, only revealing plans to buy a house for his mother along with some travel and making “good investments”. Robert took home just over $125.3 million after taxes.

On October 26, 2018, 51-year-old Lerynne West of Redfield, had just purchased her first home and was busy moving in when she decided to take a break and fetch a slice of pizza and a cup of coffee at a local convenience store. She purchased a lottery ticket as an afterthought and continued with her big move.

The following day she went to let her friend’s dog out when her friend called her to ask if she had checked her lottery ticket since it had been announced that someone from Iowa had won. When she opened her purse to check her ticket, she realised the ticket wasn’t there. She called her sister who happened to have the tickets in her truck at the time. Lerynne checked the results online after her sister sent her a picture of the ticket and to her dismay, the numbers did not match. Luckily, she realised that she had selected the wrong date.

After initially believing she had made another mistake, she checked the numbers several times before realising she had won. A month later, Lerynne appeared on The Ellen Show where she talked about her win and presented a $50,000 cheque to the Travis Mills Foundation in support of veterans. She also established her own charity, The Callum Foundation, in honour of her late grandson, which will give grants to aid “poverty and hunger, education, animal welfare and veteran affairs”. Lerynne’s fortune was $140.6 million after tax.

HOW TO BET ON POWERBALL FROM INDIA

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 India 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 INDIA?

When the Jackpot is less than $1bn (Less than 7307.7 Crores), it costs ₹300 for a single bet.

However, when the Jackpot is over $1bn (Over 7307.7 Crores), it costs ₹450 for a single bet. 

I WON A POWERBALL PRIZE – WHAT NOW?

All of our India 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 india - why not bet with Lottoland at a chance to win ₹3,023.2 Crores? Simply sit back and relax and bet on one of the biggest American lotteries from the comfort of your house in India 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: 1st November 2022