UPDATED 9:59 a.m.
(CAPITOL CITY NOW) – For as many times as you hear that Illinois never has a big multi-state lottery jackpot winner, that’s changed now.
According to ABC News, the winning ticket in Wednesday night’s $1 billion Powerball drawing was sold at a HyVee Fast & Fresh in Quincy. The winning numbers were 4, 26, 66, 67, 69 and red Powerball 9. The retailer gets a $500,000 cash bonus for selling the ticket, according to the Illinois Lottery.
The winner could choose a lump sum cash payment of $450.5 million, or could get the full prize paid out over 29 years. The Illinois Lottery says the winner has one year from now to come forward and claim their prize.
“…this is the second-largest lottery prize ever won in Illinois,” said the Illinois Lottery, in a news release.
“This is an exciting day for Illinois,” said Harold Mays, Director of the Illinois Lottery, in the lottery’s news release. “We’re thrilled for the winner and the retailer that sold the winning ticket. Beyond celebrating this incredible win, every Powerball ticket purchased during this jackpot run also helped generate funding for Illinois public schools, demonstrating how the Lottery continues to benefit communities across the state.”
ABC News says it was the 44th consecutive drawing since the last time someone won the Powerball jackpot.
The next drawing of Powerball is Saturday and will be worth at least $20 million. The other multi-state lottery — MegaMillions — will be drawn Friday and is worth $90 million, after no one drew all the winning numbers Tuesday.
