California’s streak of lottery luck continued this weekend when two Powerball tickets worth $1 million each were sold in Southern California. The winning tickets, purchased at a 7-Eleven in Duarte and Ontario Liquor in Ontario, matched five numbers in Saturday’s draw but missed the Powerball number.
Saturday’s winning numbers were 3, 18, 22, 27, 33, and the Powerball 17. While no one claimed the top jackpot, nine players nationwide matched five numbers, with four of them hailing from California. Alongside the Southern California winners, two tickets in Milpitas and Pleasant Hill also secured million-dollar prizes.
The jackpot now rolls over to an estimated $1.1 billion for Monday night’s drawing, making it one of the five largest jackpots in Powerball history. The biggest jackpot ever, a record $2.04 billion, was claimed in November 2022 by a ticket bought in Altadena. California, known for some of the game’s most historic wins, could once again be the backdrop for another record-breaking payout.
North Carolina Player Scores Major Prize in Near Miss
In North Carolina, another player narrowly missed a jackpot but still walked away with a substantial win. The ticket, purchased earlier this month, matched five numbers in a drawing where the jackpot had climbed to $429 million. Though the ticket fell short of securing the Powerball number, the prize still brought in a significant payout—transforming the player into one of the state’s latest big winners.
Lottery officials did not immediately disclose the location of the ticket sale, but the outcome highlights how close calls in Powerball can still deliver life-changing sums. While the jackpot often dominates headlines, these near-jackpot wins consistently reshape the lives of everyday players across the country.
For North Carolina, the victory adds to a growing list of multimillion-dollar wins since the state first joined the Powerball network. Beyond individual stories, lottery proceeds in the state continue to funnel directly into education programs, funding school construction, scholarships, and early childhood initiatives.
Growing Jackpots Keep Players Dreaming
The latest developments underscore the unique structure of Powerball, which builds excitement through rollovers when jackpots go unclaimed. The odds of winning the grand prize are steep—1 in 292 million, but secondary prizes often range from $1 million to several million, depending on the number of matches and add-on features like Power Play.
Winners of the top prize have the choice between an annuity spread over 30 years or a lump-sum cash option, typically amounting to about half of the advertised jackpot. As jackpots climb, ticket sales surge, increasing both the prize pool and the number of secondary winners across multiple states.
California and North Carolina now stand as prime examples of Powerball’s wide-ranging impact, producing both jackpot-adjacent millionaires and significant local winners. With Monday night’s $1.1 billion draw looming, millions of players nationwide will be watching closely, hoping the next winning ticket is in their hands.
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Sources:
https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/powerball-million-dollar-tickets-duarte-ontario/
https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article311923205.html
