Final ticket sales made it the second-largest in U.S. history and the largest Powerball prize of 2025. The lump sum cash payment option was $834.9 million.<\/b>
\nA Powerball ticket purchased at a gas station outside Little Rock, Arkansas, won a $1.817 billion jackpot in Wednesday\u2019s Christmas Eve drawing, ending the lottery game\u2019s three-month stretch without a top-prize winner.
The winning numbers were 04, 25, 31, 52 and 59, with the Powerball number being 19. The winning ticket was sold at a Murphy USA in Cabot, lottery officials in Arkansas said Thursday. No one answered the phone Thursday at the location, which was closed for Christmas. The community of roughly 27,000 people is 26 miles northeast of Little Rock.
Final ticket sales pushed the jackpot higher than previous expected, making it the second-largest in U.S. history and the largest Powerball prize of 2025, according to www.powerball.com. The jackpot had a lump sum cash payment option of $834.9 million.
\u201cCongratulations to the newest Powerball jackpot winner! This is truly an extraordinary, life-changing prize,\u201d Matt Strawn, Powerball Product Group Chair and Iowa Lottery CEO, was quoted as saying by the website. \u201cWe also want to thank all the players who joined in this jackpot streak \u2014 every ticket purchased helps support public programs and services across the country.\u201d
Lottery officials said they won\u2019t know who won until at least Monday because winners must contact a claims center, which is closed for the holidays until then, according to Karen Reynolds, a spokesperson for the Arkansas lottery.
The prize followed 46 consecutive drawings in which no one matched all six numbers.
The last drawing with a jackpot winner was Sept. 6, when players in Missouri and Texas won $1.787 billion.
Organizers said it is the second time the Powerball jackpot has been won by a ticket sold in Arkansas. It first happened in 2010.
The last time someone won a Powerball jackpot on Christmas Eve was in 2011, Powerball said. The company added that the sweepstakes also has been won on Christmas Day four times, most recently in 2013.
Powerball\u2019s odds of 1 in 292.2 million are designed to generate big jackpots, with prizes growing as they roll over when no one wins. Lottery officials note that the odds are far better for the game\u2019s many smaller prizes.
\u201cWith the prize so high, I just bought one kind of impulsively. Why not?\u201d Indianapolis glass artist Chris Winters said Wednesday.
Tickets cost $2, and the game is offered in 45 states plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Associated Press videojournalist Obed Lamy in Indianapolis contributed.
Olivia Diaz is a corps member for The Associated Press\/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.<\/p>\n