Powerball players miss jackpot — but still win big in NC. Where were the tickets sold?
UPDATE: At about 4:30 p.m. May 30, North Carolina lottery officials announced that the $100,000 prize was claimed. Winner Maysam Aljader lives in Holly Springs, outside of Raleigh.
The original story is below.
Two Powerball players just missed the $143 million jackpot — but still scored big prizes in North Carolina.
The winners bought tickets that matched all but one number picked in the drawing Wednesday, May 29. Since one of the players spent an extra dollar on the Power Play option, their prize doubled from $50,000 to $100,000, the N.C. Education Lottery wrote on its website.
The winning numbers: white balls 17-34-56-60-61, with red Powerball 9.
So, where did the players buy their lucky tickets? The $100,000 ticket was sold to an online lottery player in the Raleigh suburb of Apex, lottery officials told McClatchy News via email.
Meanwhile, the $50,000 ticket came from a 7-Eleven convenience store in the Hamptonville area, in Yadkin County and a roughly 30-mile drive west from Winston-Salem.
The tickets each matched four of the white balls and the red ball to win big. But they were both one number from the larger jackpot prize, which stood at an estimated $143 million, results show.
Across the country, the Apex player won the largest prize the night of the drawing. No one hit the jackpot, which now rises to $161 million, McClatchy News reported.
As of 8:45 a.m. May 30, the two North Carolina players hadn’t come forward to claim their prizes. The state gives drawing game winners about six months to cash in.
What to know about Powerball
To score a jackpot in the Powerball, a player must match all five white balls and the red Powerball.
The odds of scoring the jackpot prize are 1-in-292,201,338.
Tickets can be bought on the day of the drawing, but sales times and price vary by state.
Drawings are broadcast Saturdays, Mondays and Wednesdays at 10:59 p.m. ET and can be streamed online.
Powerball is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
This story was originally published May 30, 2024 at 12:26 PM.
