Two Powerball players just miss $163M jackpot — but still win big in North Carolina
.jpg "Two Powerball tickets sold in North Carolina just missed the jackpot prize.")
UPDATE: At about 1 p.m. Sept. 17, the North Carolina Education Lottery announced that the $250,000 Powerball winner had come forward. Read more about how he reacted to the prize here.
The original story is below.
Two Powerball players just missed a massive jackpot — but still won prizes worth celebrating in North Carolina.
The players bought tickets that matched all but one number picked in the Sept. 16 drawing. Since one of the players spent an extra dollar on the Power Play option, that person’s prize rose from $50,000 to $250,000, the N.C. Education Lottery wrote on its website and in an email to McClatchy News.
The winning numbers: white balls 8-9-11-27-31, with red Powerball 17.
The players’ tickets, which were purchased online, matched four white balls and the red ball to win big. Here’s where the players tried their luck:
$50,000 ticket sold in High Point
$250,000 ticket sold in Raleigh
The Powerball players were one number from scoring the larger jackpot prize. Across the country, no one hit the jackpot, which stood at an estimated $163 million the night of the drawing, according to the game’s website.
But the wins came on a lucky night for North Carolina lottery players. Another ticket sold in the state matched enough numbers to be worth $233,442 in the Cash 5 jackpot game. It came from the Ready Mart convenience store in Seagrove, officials wrote in their email and on X, formerly known as Twitter.
As of 9:20 a.m. Sept. 17, none of the winners had claimed their prizes. Lucky ticket holders have about six months to cash in, according to drawing game rules.
What to know about Powerball
To score the 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 September 17, 2024 at 9:56 AM.
