Powerball $2.04 billion winner: where was the Powerball ticket sold?

In terms of pure mathematic probability, the chances of correctly selecting all six numbers needed to win the Powerball lottery are 1 in 292 million. To play, five numbers from 1 to 69 among the white balls are chosen along with one red Powerball, from numbers 1 to 26. Due to the millions of possible number combinations, it is extremely difficult, practically impossible to select all six winning numbers.

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But on Tuesday, an anonymous player in California managed to win the $2.04 billion Powerball lottery jackpot - the largest lottery payout in history, with a $2 ticket. The California Lottery announced that the winning ticket had been sold at a Joe’s Service Station - an Exxon-Mobil gas station in Altadena, California around 14 miles north west of downtown Los Angeles.

Identity of the winner not yet known

For the moment, we know nothing about the lucky winner but details could soon emerge as winners of large lottery payouts have the right to remain anonymous in just six states - Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Ohio. Other states, including California, require their lotteries to publicly identify winners. A portion of the jackpot, around 24%, is retained through federal taxes and is ploughed back into the community via contributions to public amenities, schools and colleges, help for veterans and so on.

There were a total of 1,634,306 cash prize winners and one jackpot winner in California, in all nine categories - three players had five numbers but no Powerball which would see them get a $1,000,000 payout while another 36 players had four numbers plus the Powerball - the third prize, landing $50,000 each.