Florida Ticket Wins $285.6 Million Powerball Jackpot
Sunday June 6th 2021Life just got a whole lot sunnier for one ultra-lucky Florida Powerball player, to the tune of $285.6 million. The winning ticket scooped the entire jackpot on Saturday night.
The Quick Pick ticket was purchased from Circle K at 721 Chaffee Road South in Jacksonville and matched all six Powerball numbers drawn on Saturday, June 5 - white balls 44, 52, 54, 64, 69 and the red Powerball 26. The Powerplay multiplier was 3X.
The life-changing prize is the 16th time the Powerball jackpot has been hit in Florida. The winner can opt to receive the full amount as a yearly annuity or take a one-time lump sum payout of $196.7 million.
To take home the cash option, the winner must claim within 60 days from the draw date. If they choose the annuity, they have 180 days to come forward before the prize expires.
Could the winner stay anonymous? No - FL isn't among the growing number of states that allows this option; the Lottery is required to provide the winner's name and city of residence upon request.
The win comes just days after the game's fourth-largest ever prize, a $731.1 million jackpot won in January, was claimed by a group of Maryland players.
Puerto Rico ticket wins $2 million
A ticket purchased in Puerto Rico hit the game's second prize in Saturday's draw by matching the five white balls and also included Powerplay, doubling the $1 million Match 5 win to $2 million. Congrats!
Second Powerball jackpot in a row for Florida
Saturday's top prize was the second consecutive Powerball win in the Sunshine State, after Thomas Yi of Land O' Lakes hit $235.4 million on March 27. The 23-year-old is the youngest Powerball winner ever in Florida.
Yi said he was "in disbelief" after checking his numbers and took the ticket to a retailer for confirmation. He opted for the cash lump sum and received a $160,038,447 payout. However, Yi doesn't plan to rest on his laurels, telling Lottery officials he wants to pursue higher education.
Biggest Florida winners
Florida is one of the top-selling Powerball jurisdictions with big wins to match. The record for largest Powerball prize taken by a single ticket in the state stands at $590.5 million, won by Gloria Mackenzie of Zephyrhills in 2013.
The highest Powerball jackpot scored by multiple tickets was $1.5 billion in 2016 - the biggest lottery prize ever. David Kaltschmidt and Maureen Smith of Melbourne Beach were the lucky owners of one of the three winning tickets.
Current Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots
The Powerball jackpot has now returned to its starting level of $20 million with a cash value of $13.8 million for the next draw on Wednesday.
Starting August 23, players have an extra shot at winning when a Monday draw joins the current Wednesday and Saturday lineup.
There's also another chance to win big this week - try your luck on the Mega Millions Tuesday draw for $56 million top prize with a cash option of $38.3 million.
Pick up your Powerball and Mega Millions tickets here.
Latest News