California ticket holder WINS $1.76 billion Powerball jackpot after 12-week extension: A single ticket claims the country’s second-largest lottery prize in history

A lucky ticket holder from California hit the second-largest Powerball jackpot ever of $1.73 billion on Wednesday night.

The winning numbers were: 22, 24, 40, 52, 64 and the Powerball 10.

The single ticket was sold at Midway Market & Liquor in Frazier Park, the California Lottery announced last night.

The huge win ended a long period without a top prize winner, resulting in 12-week rollovers.

The massive jackpot is the second-largest lottery prize in the world, surpassed only by the $2.04 billion Powerball prize won by Edwin Castro in California last November.

The winning numbers were: 22, 24, 40, 52, 64 and the Powerball 10

The single ticket was sold at Midway Market & Liquor in Frazier Park, the California Lottery announced last night

Castro – who settled on a lump sum of $997.6 million – has since purchased a Los Angeles estate for $47 million, owned by prominent real estate agent Mauricio Umansky, along with three separate mansions in California for a total of $76 million US dollars was sold.

The massive LA estate features seven bedrooms and 11 bathrooms, a koi pond and a huge infinity pool with city views.

He was also seen driving away from a bank in a vintage Porsche.

Before Wednesday’s drawing, another California player matched all six numbers and collected $1.08 billion July 19th.

If Wednesday’s winner accepts his prize as a lump sum, he will be punished more severely than anyone in the last two decades.

When someone wins the lottery, they generally have two options for claiming their prize money.

They either accept a lump sum that is paid to them immediately, or they claim the full jackpot amount, which is paid to them in the form of pensions over the next 30 years.

If the winner of Wednesday’s $1.73 billion Powerball opts for a lump sum payment, as nearly 98 percent of winners have done in the past, they will immediately receive around $757 million.

On January 21st, the winner of the $730 million jackpot paid out a whopping $550 million. The flat rate was therefore 75 percent of the advertised jackpot

The advertised jackpot is therefore the amount you would receive if the prize pool was invested in a portfolio of government bonds for 30 years

On Wednesday, only 44 percent of the advertised jackpot of $1.73 billion is available as a lump sum. This is the lowest value since 2003

That may be a lot of money, but based on the advertised jackpot amount, it’s the lowest since at least 2003, just 44 percent.

Powerballs terrible odds from 1 to 292.2 million are designed to generate big jackpots, with the prizes getting bigger and bigger as they keep changing when no one wins. And there have been hardly any victories in the last few months.

That didn’t bother those who wanted to spend their money on Wednesday for a long-term chance at instant wealth.

Robert Salvato Jr., a 60-year-old electrician, bought 40 Powerball tickets at a hardware store in Billerica, Massachusetts.

“I would take care of the family and give my cat the extra leg he needs and make him a good cat,” said Salvato, who got married Saturday.

“I could give her a ring on each finger, I guess,” Salvato said of his new wife.

Nevada is one of five states without Powerball, so friends Tamara Carter and Denise Davis drove from Las Vegas across the state line to California to buy tickets. But at the first stop the line was so long that they gave up and looked for another store.

“The line was about three hours long,” Carter estimated. “I waited maybe half an hour and it didn’t move.”

The jackpot has grown enormously due to a long dry spell. The previous winning Powerball ticket was sold on July 19 and was worth $1.08 billion after 39 drawings without a jackpot win.

At the same hardware store as Salvato, Kevin Button seemed to understand the long odds as he bought a ticket.

“I usually only buy them when the jackpot is high,” Button said. “Seems to be pretty high a lot lately.” So I’ve tried it a few times and haven’t even won a free ticket. But maybe tonight is the night.’

In most states, a Powerball ticket costs $2 and players can choose their own numbers or leave the task to a computer.

The $1.73 billion jackpot is for the only winner who chooses to cash out through a pension, spread over 30 years. Winners almost always choose the cash option.

Winnings would be subject to federal tax, and many states also tax lottery winnings.

Powerball is played in 45 states as well as Washington, DC, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.