Powerball player wins $1.33 billion jackpot after hours-long delay

US News

broke down

by Nicholas McIntyre

Worth the wait!

A $1.33 billion Powerball jackpot-winning ticket was sold in Oregon after Saturday night's drawing was delayed for more than three hours due to “pre-drawing procedures.”

The winning numbers were 22, 27, 44, 52, 69 and the red ball 9.

The lucky winning ticket holder can choose between the $1.33 billion prize paid out over 29 years or the one-time lump sum of $621.1 million.

The win was the fourth-largest in the game's history, and the sixth lucky player from the Beaver State to take home a Powerball jackpot, the last time being in June 2018, according to State lottery website.

It was not immediately known where the lucky ticket was purchased or who the winner was.

Oregon law requires the names of lottery winners to be disclosed.

The new billionaire has 60 days to claim his winnings.

The results of the massive win were delayed by several hours because the participating lottery needed “additional time to complete required advance drawing procedures, which have been enacted to protect the security and integrity of Powerball.”

Powerball said every ticket sold nationwide must be scanned and verified through two different computer systems before the numbers are drawn.

The draw was held around 2:30am on Sunday morning instead of the usual 11pm

The lottery delay on Saturday night sparked outrage on social media with players speculating that the lottery was a scam.

However, this is not the first time the lottery drawing has been postponed before the eventual $1 billion winner.

In November 2022, the Powerball drawing was postponed for 10 hours, and did not occur until the next morning. According to USA Today.

The numbers for eventual winner Edwin Castro were called and he became the biggest winner in lottery history with his $2.04 billion prize.

It takes astronomical odds of 1 in 292,201,338 to win the Powerball jackpot.

The Powerball jackpot was last won on January 1 at a Michigan supermarket, and there have been 40 consecutive drawings without a winner.

A lucky lottery player in Michigan correctly matched all six numbers on the first day of the new year, winning the $842 million jackpot.

The winner played at the Food Castle grocery store in Grand Blanc, Mich. He was the first person in the history of the game to win the Powerball jackpot on New Year's Day.

It was the eighth-largest jackpot in history at the time of the win.