Illinois ticket wins $1.04 billion Powerball jackpot

A Powerball ticket sold in Illinois matched all six winning numbers in Wednesday's drawing, securing a $1.040 billion jackpot, the eighth-largest in the game’s history. The prize offers a cash option of $450.5 million, with both options subject to taxes. The winning numbers were white balls 4, 26, 66, 67 and 69, and the red Powerball 9, with a 2X Power Play multiplier.

"Congratulations to our newest Powerball jackpot winner in Illinois," said Stephen Durrell, chair of the Powerball Product Group and executive director of the Kansas Lottery. "For more than three decades, Powerball has shown that a winning ticket can be sold anywhere the game is played, giving every $2 ticket the chance to change not only a winner's life, but generations to come."

If the annuity option is chosen, the winner will receive an initial payment followed by 29 annual payments that increase by 5% each year. Four other tickets in Arizona, California, Florida and North Carolina matched the five white balls, each earning a $1 million prize (California’s payout is pari-mutuel). A ticket in Massachusetts also matched the five white balls and, with the Power Play, doubled the prize to $2 million. The jackpot, last won on May 2, will reset to $20 million for the next drawing.

The odds of hitting the Powerball jackpot remain 1 in 292.2 million.