A single ticket purchased in Illinois matched all six numbers in Wednesday night’s Powerball drawing, producing a jackpot winner of $1.04 billion, lottery officials said Thursday. The winning ticket was sold at a Hy-Vee Fast & Fresh gas station in Quincy.
Winning numbers, payout choices and precedent
The numbers drawn were 4, 26, 66, 67, 69 and the Powerball 9, with a Power Play multiplier of 2. The jackpot winner may choose either a 30-payment annuity over 29 years or a lump-sum cash option of $450.5 million before taxes, according to lottery officials.
Lottery officials had raised the advertised prize for Wednesday’s drawing from $975 million after stronger-than-expected ticket sales pushed the jackpot higher in the run-up to the drawing. The Powerball jackpot had last been won on May 2; when a jackpot is claimed, the game resets to a default of $20 million for the next drawing.
How rare is this win?
The odds of matching all six numbers and winning the jackpot are about 1 in 292.2 million, the lottery reported. This prize ranks as the eighth-largest jackpot in Powerball history and is the largest lottery jackpot claimed so far this year nationwide.
- Jackpot value: $1.04 billion (annuity) / $450.5 million (cash option)
- Winning numbers: 4, 26, 66, 67, 69; Powerball 9; Power Play 2
- Odds of jackpot: 1 in 292.2 million
Illinois lottery history
This is the third time an Illinois ticket has won the Powerball jackpot and the second time an Illinois lottery player has won a grand prize of more than $1 billion. In July 2022, a ticket sold at a gas station in Des Plaines won a $1.34 billion Mega Millions prize — the largest lottery prize ever won in Illinois.
The state has seen other major wins in recent years. In March of this year, an Illinois player dubbed "Lucky Lady" won a $536 million Mega Millions prize after buying a ticket online through the Illinois Lottery’s iLottery platform. In August 2017, a player won a $393 million Mega Millions jackpot after purchasing a ticket at a local retailer.
Practical next steps for the ticket holder
Lottery officials have not released any claim details or identified a winner as of Thursday morning. When a large prize is claimed, winners typically need to present the signed ticket to the Illinois Lottery, complete required paperwork, and choose whether to accept the annuity or the lump sum. Taxes and counsel are considerations that can affect the final amount a winner receives.
| Prize option | Amount (before taxes) |
|---|---|
| 30 annual payments (annuity) | $1.04 billion |
| Lump-sum cash option | $450.5 million |
What this means for Illinois players
The win will reset the Powerball jackpot to $20 million for the next drawing, scheduled for Saturday. Players across Illinois who purchased tickets during the jackpot run will no longer be participating in the big rollover but still have the opportunity for smaller prizes in the upcoming drawing.
Officials said the jackpot increase before Wednesday’s drawing reflected stronger-than-anticipated ticket sales nationally. The growing frequency of billion-dollar jackpots in recent years is tied in part to structural changes in games that allow top prizes to grow larger when consecutive drawings produce no winners.
More information about claiming prizes and tax guidance is available from the Illinois Lottery and should be reviewed by the holder of the winning ticket when they come forward.
We will update this story as the Illinois Lottery releases additional details about the prize claim and the identity of the ticket holder.
