Could First Powerball Jackpot Win of 2017 be Worth the Wait?
Wednesday February 8th 2017With an estimated jackpot of $255 million up for grabs in tonight’s drawing, excitement amongst Powerball players is certainly beginning to gather pace. The top prize, which recently rolled over for the 14th straight drawing, has not been claimed since Saturday December 17th, when a ticket holder from Selbyville, Delaware won a sum of $121.6 million.
This long wait means that any winner of tonight’s nine-figure prize would become the first Powerball jackpot winner of 2017. This delay might seem drawn out for many players of the game, but if recent times are anything to go by, the first jackpot win of the new year is usually something special.
Players witnessed a similar winner drought in 2014, as the jackpot evaded ticket holders throughout January and deep into February. Eventually the prize, which had reached a staggering $425.3 million, was won by a player from California. However, state lottery officials were met with a stoney silence for well over a month as appeals to find the winner proved unsuccessful. That was until April Fools’ Day rolled around and B. Raymond Buxton stepped forward to claim the windfall. Collecting his giant check in a Star Wars t-shirt with ‘Luck of the Jedi I Have’ emblazoned across the front, Buxton described the win as “unbelievable”.
There was a similar wait for a winner in 2015. Once again, there was no sign of any January jackpot joy, meaning that, come February, the prize pot was overflowing. A gigantic $564.1 million sum was eventually claimed by three lucky ticket holders in a situation that closely resembled the wait for a London bus. Marie Holmes, a single mother from Shallotte, North Carolina was the only player to reveal herself to the press, with the two other victors, from Texas and Puerto Rico, opting to claim through and trust and remain anonymous respectively.
With a high benchmark set, 2016 needed to pull something truly spectacular out of the bag - and it succeeded. Players had watched on as the jackpot total scaled new heights, finally reaching a record breaking $1.58 billion on Wednesday January 13th. Tickets were frantically snapped up by players believing Lady Luck was firmly on their side, so much so that Powerball sales went through the roof. The exciting saga finally came to an end when John and Lisa Robinson of Munford, Tennessee, David Kaltschmidt and Maureen Smith from Melbourne Beach, Florida and Marvin and Mae Acosta of Chino Hills, California each claimed a pre-tax total of $528.8 million.
If you’d like to write your name in the history books as the first Powerball jackpot winner of 2017, tickets for tonight’s draw are available to buy online or from any authorized retailer in participating states and jurisdictions. Best of luck!
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