Winning $473.1 Million Powerball Ticket Sold in Arizona

Blank forms for the Powerball lottery sit in a bin at a local grocery store, in Des Moines, Iowa, on Jan. 12, 2021. Charlie Neibergall/AP Photo

One lucky person won Wednesday night’s $473.1 million Powerball jackpot drawing.

The winning ticket matching all six numbers was sold in Arizona, according to a statement released by Powerball officials. No further details were provided as to where exactly the winning ticket was sold.

The numbers drawn were: 62, 68, 61, 11, 36. The Powerball number was 4 with a multiplier of 2.

“Due to strong ticket sales, the jackpot climbed beyond earlier estimates to $473.1 million at the time of the drawing with a cash option of $283.3 million,” Powerball officials said.

The winner will now get to choose between an estimated annuity of $473.1 million, which will be paid in 30 graduated payments over 29 years, or the lump sum of $283.3 million payment, prior to taxes.

“More than 1.4 million tickets won cash prizes in Powerball’s Wednesday night drawing, including one ticket in Indiana that matched all five white balls to win $1 million,” officials said. 

It is the third time this year that the Powerball jackpot has been won.

A winning draw on Jan. 5 was shared by two tickets in California and Wisconsin. The winners split the $632.6 million jackpot, which was the seventh-largest in Powerball history.

In February on Valentine’s Day, a single ticket sold at the One-Stop Convenience Store in Cheshire, Connecticut, won $185.3 million.

Tickets for the game are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

While the overall odds of winning a prize are 1 in 24.9, and the odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, experts suggest those lucky individuals who do win take steps to protect their winnings immediately.

This includes taking a photo of themselves with the winning ticket and placing it in a safe until collecting their windfall.

Experts also suggest getting professional help from an attorney, financial adviser, and tax adviser among others to ensure that the process of claiming the winnings is as smooth as possible, while noting that the 24 percent federal tax withholding would reduce the jackpot’s total amount before it is received by the winner.

This means that the $473.1 million jackpot would see roughly $65.3 million wiped off the cash prize and additional federal taxes would likely need to be paid.