One lucky ticket holder in Michigan has kicked off the New Year by winning an estimated $842m Powerball jackpot in the first draw of 2024.
Monday night’s draw matched the numbers on a ticket bought at the Food Castle in Grand Blanc just outside the town of Flint in Michigan, the Michigan Lottery said.
The winning numbers are 12, 21, 42, 44, 49, with the Powerball being 1. There was also a power play multiplier of 3.
It is the first time in over 30 years that anyone has won a jackpot on New Year’s Day, with the last time being back in 1992.
The person with the winning ticket has yet to contact the lottery.
Whoever the lucky person is will now have a choice between receiving their prize over 30-year instalments or cash out with a lump sum of $425.2m.
Other ticket holders also became overnight millionaires in Monday’s draw, with tickets in both Florida and Texas matching five numbers and the power play – each winning $2m.
A prize of $1m was also won by ticket holders in California, Connecticut, Florida and Maryland.
Since the last jackpot winner, who took home $1.7bn, there have been 35 consecutive Powerball drawings without anyone claiming the jackpot.
As a result, the New Year’s Day jackpot win is the fifth-largest Powerball jackpot ever won and the 10th-largest jackpot in US lottery history.
The largest prize ever won currently stands at $2.04bn, won by a lucky person in California in November 2022.
Yet 2023 also saw some close contenders, as one jackpot rolled over to a massive $1.765bn which was then won in October in California.
The odds of winning the jackpot prize is one in more than 292.2 million.
A Powerball ticket costs $2 each and an extra $1 to add Power Play for a chance to increase the amount of money you win.
Powerball numbers are announced every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
