THE $632.6 million jackpot in the January 5, 2022 night drawing was taken by two lucky lottery players.
The winning tickets, sold in California and Wisconsin, matched all six numbers: 6, 14, 25, 33, and 46, with a Powerball number of 17.
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How does Powerball work?
For the white balls, the player chooses five numbers from 1 to 69, and for the red Powerball, they choose one number from 1 to 26.
The player is a jackpot winner if all six numbers on a ticket match those selected in the official drawing, regardless of the sequence in which the numbers are drawn.
The odds of winning the prize in such a lottery are 1 in 13,983,816 and the jackpot has a 1 in 622,614,630 chance of being won.
The Powerball jackpot will continue to rise until it is won.
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What happens when more than one person wins the Powerball?
If there is more than one Powerball winner, they will have to split the jackpot.
"If more than one person wins the jackpot, the prize is equally divided among the winners,” reads Powerball FAQ. “All other prizes, from $1million down to $4, are fixed prize amounts, and are paid in full to each winner."
Rewards may fluctuate depending on how many other individuals win the top prize.
The prize pool for matching a "match five" to win $1million will remain the same, for example.
For the reward money to meet the $1million number, a little under 1,500 winners would have to step forward - an implausible situation due to the low odds of winning.
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What happens in the case of the two most recent winners?
Two distinct tickets hit all of the winning numbers for the $632.6 million Powerball jackpot on Wednesday, one of which was sold in Wisconsin.
It was not immediately clear where the ticket was sold in Wisconsin.
The prize, which is the fifth-highest in Powerball history, will be shared between the winners.
According to Powerball, each ticket is worth $316.3 million in annuities or $225.1 million in cash, both before taxes.
The second winning ticket was sold at a 7-Eleven in Sacramento, according to the California State Lottery.
Both states are among the majority that requires lottery winners to reveal their identities to the public when they claim their rewards, which must be done within 180 days after the drawing.
It's the first time someone has won the jackpot in 40 draws, which was on October 4, 2021.
