Why Florida Lottery’s Powerball Christmas Eve jackpot has soared to $1.7 billion
The fifth largest jackpot in the Florida Lottery’s Powerball game came and went Monday night without delivering its $1.6 billion prize — but locally it made someone a millionaire.
Well, a near-millionaire. There are taxes on the bounty.
Someone won the $1 million prize for matching five numbers from a quick pick ticket purchased at the Sunrise Key Food Fresh supermarket in the University Plaza shopping center at 8251 Sunset Strip.
Florida Lotto didn’t publicly name the winner of the second-tier prize.
A Fantasy 5 ticket worth $119,682, was declared a winner on Monday night, too, and was purchased from a Vero Beach Publix in Indian River County.
“While Powerball is a multistate game played nationwide, we’re always hoping the winning ticket is sold right here in Florida, because a win for Florida is an even bigger win for education,” said Florida Lottery Acting Secretary Reginald D. Dixon in a statement.
This will be the third time the Powerball game will have jackpots exceeding $1 billion, according to Florida Lottery. In 2023, there were two winning tickets sold, both in California. There was a $1.08 billion jackpot won on July 19, and a record-breaking $1.765 billion jackpot on Oct. 11, two years ago.
Powerball tickets are $2 per play. The game was started in 1992.
The next Powerball jackpot on Wednesday, Christmas Eve, climbs to $1.7 billion.
