Wednesday’s winning Powerball ticket was sold at a supermarket in Georgia – giving the lucky buyer a $478 million jackpot, the state lottery said.

According to Gretchen Corbin, president and CEO of the Georgia Lottery, the six matching numbers purchased at a Quick Mart in Buford gave the ticket holder the largest win in the state’s history. The winning numbers for the Powerball drawing on Wednesday, October 23rd were: 2, 15, 27, 29 and 39 and the Powerball was 20.

Powerball said on its website that 616,153 tickets were sold nationwide in Wednesday night’s drawing. Two tickets, one in Pennsylvania and the other in Texas, sold all five white balls and won $1 million in prizes.

The jackpot winner can receive either the $478.2 million paid out annually or a lump sum payment of $230.6 million, both before taxes. If the winner chooses the annuity option, they will receive an immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments.

This was the first jackpot winner in the state since 2016, when couple William and Heather ten Broeke bought a winning ticket worth $246.8 million. They opted for the cash payment, which totaled $165,613,511 before taxes.

Where was the winning Powerball ticket sold in Georgia?

The winning ticket was sold at the Quick Mart, 2155 Buford Dam Road in Buford, Georgia. Retailers who sell the jackpot winning ticket will receive a $50,000 retailer incentive bonus, according to the lottery.

Powerball tickets are on sale 45 states. Utah, Nevada, Hawaii, Alaska and Alabama are not participating in the game for a variety of reasons, including objections from conservatives, concerns about the impact on low-income families and a desire not to compete with existing gambling operations. Tickets are $2.

Players can either choose their numbers or have a computer randomly generate them. an expert told CBS News It is better to use the random ticket number generators as these machines may better suit the Powerball drawing capabilities.

Nevertheless, the chances of winning the jackpot are very slim. According to Powerball, the overall odds of winning a prize are 1 in 24.9, but the odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.

To put that in context, a Powerball player is more likely to be attacked by a grizzly bear in Yellowstone National Park – about 1 in 2.7 million, according to the National Park Service – or to find one Blue lobster in the ocean (1 in 2 million).

Do we know who won the Powerball jackpot?

The Georgia Lottery has not yet announced whether the owner of the winning ticket has claimed their prize. Winners in Georgia have 180 days from the drawing date to claim prizes. When the winner is announced, we may still not know their identity, as people who win big jackpots in Georgia have the option to collect their winnings anonymously.

Once the winner receives their ticket, it will be the largest single payout in Georgia Lottery history, officials said. This jackpot surpasses the previous record set by a Mega Millions winner from Stone Mountain, who won half of a $648 million jackpot and received a cash option of over $173 million before taxes.

Where and when was the previous Powerball jackpot won?

The Powerball jackpot has been won eight times this year, with the last winning ticket sold before Wednesday’s drawing on August 19, 2024 in California for a jackpot of $44.3 million.

The largest payout in Powerball history occurred in California for prize money of $2.04 billion in 2022. In 2016, three winners from California, Florida and Tennessee shared a prize of $1.586 billion.

The other winners in 2024 were:

2024 Powerball jackpots

• January 1, 2024 – $842.4 million – Michigan
• April 6, 2024 – $1.326 billion – Oregon
• May 6, 2024 – $214.9 million – Florida
• June 10, 2024 – $226.6 million – New Jersey
• July 3, 2024 – $139.3 million – Ohio
• August 12, 2024 – $213.8 million – Pennsylvania
• August 19, 2024 – $44.3 million – California

Khristopher J. Brooks and Emily Mae Czachor contributed to this report.