Wednesday night's Powerball jackpot was worth $448 million with a cash option of $271.7 million. Was anyone lucky enough to win the jackpot prize?
The Powerball lottery drawing was held on Wednesday night at 11 p.m. EST. The winning numbers were 18-36-45-47-69, Powerball 14, and Power Play 3X, according to the Powerball website. Although no one won the jackpot prize on Wednesday night, there was one winner from Florida who matched five of the winning numbers and the Power Play to win two million dollars, the lottery website states. There was also one winner from New York who won one million dollars for matching five of the winning numbers.
The next Powerball drawing will be held on Saturday at 11 p.m. EST. The lottery jackpot is now worth $495 million with a cash option of $300.2 million, the Powerball website states.
Powerball is known as one of the most popular lottery games and is played across 44 states in the U.S., according to the Powerball website. The drawings for the lottery game are held twice a week on Wednesday and Saturday nights at 11 p.m. ET.
The last winner to claim a Powerball prize was a man from Nebraska. Zach Norenberg from Fremont, Nebraska, won one million dollars during the March 6 Powerball drawing, according to a Powerball press release.
Norenberg told lottery officials he decided to purchase lottery tickets after dropping off his daughter to work. He purchased the winning ticket at Hy-Vee Gas at 828 East 23rd Street in Fremont and selected the numbers based on the birthday of family members, according to the press release. He was watching the news the following evening and saw that some of the lottery numbers on the screen looked familiar, realizing he had matched five of the winning numbers.
"I called and woke my parents," Norenberg told lottery officials. "I said, 'Dad, I just won $1 million.'"
Norenberg and his wife, Shelby, told lottery officials they plan on paying off their student loan debt and their mortgage. They will also use the money to help care for their one-year-old daughter and a new baby that's on the way. The couple told lottery officials he has also hired a financial planner to help them live debt free.
"We're hoping to live debt free and maybe retire early," Norenberg said.
The winner told lottery officials he is trying his luck out again and already purchased a lottery ticket for the next Powerball drawing.
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