Christmas came early for a man who bought a Powerball ticket at a gas station near Little Rock, Arkansas. worth more than $1.8 billion.
The sole winner of Wednesday's Christmas Eve drawing matched all five winning numbers and the Powerball to win the second-largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history, ending a three-month period of play without a top winner.
Here's what you need to know about the Powerball jackpot and what's coming next.
Where was the ticket sold?
The winning ticket was sold at a Murphy USA gas station in Cabot, a suburb northeast of Little Rock with a population of about 27,000. A telephone message left at the store Friday was not returned, but company spokeswoman Alejandra Barron said in an email that their stores were especially busy on Christmas Eve when customers purchased Powerball tickets.
This is the second time a major jackpot has been won at Murphy USA. Last year, an $800 million multi-state Mega Millions lottery ticket was sold at a Murphy Express store in Sugar Land, Texas, Barron said.
The entire Cabot community is discussing who the potential winner might be, Mayor Ken Kincaid said.
“It’s all over Facebook and Twitter,” Kincaid said. “Everyone is talking about it and wants to know who it is.”
Because the gas station is located near a major interstate, Kincaid said it was possible the lottery winner was from out of town.
“I certainly hope it’s a Cabot citizen,” Kincaid said. “That would be great.”
What happens next?
In Arkansas, lottery winners have 180 days, or about 6 months, to claim their prize, said Karen Reynolds, spokeswoman for the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery.
Under Arkansas law, lottery winners who win prizes worth more than $500,000 can request that their identities remain confidential for up to three years, after which the information is no longer exempt from disclosure. However, if the winner is an elected official or close relative, these records will only remain confidential for 6 months.
Lottery income is subject to Arkansas personal income tax at a maximum rate of 3.9%. If the winner chooses the $834.9 million lump sum cash payment option, they will owe the state of Arkansas more than $32 million.
Arkansas law also allows delinquent taxes, delinquent child support and any other judgments or liens to be withheld from lottery winnings if that person has such outstanding debts.
What else do you need to know about Powerball?
The last time someone won the Powerball jackpot was on Christmas Eve in 2011, Powerball said. The company added that the lottery has been won on Christmas Day four times, most recently in 2013.
Powerball's 1 in 292.2 million odds are designed to create large jackpots, with prizes growing as they roll over to other lotteries when no one wins.
In 2015, lottery officials tightened the odds to hit huge jackpots, although officials note the odds are much higher for many of the game's smaller prizes.
Tickets are $2 and the game is offered in 45 states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
This time the winning numbers were 04, 25, 31, 52 and 59, and the Powerball number was 19.
