:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2)/Powerball-tickets-121525-52413e45444f4b25b09a3aab122dc653.jpg?w=1920&resize=1920,1267&ssl=1 "Single Ticket Wins .8 Billion Powerball Jackpot on Christmas Eve, the 2nd Largest in History")
Single Ticket Wins $1.8 Billion Powerball Jackpot on Christmas Eve, the 2nd Largest in History
NEED TO KNOW
- A single ticket from Arkansas won a Powerball jackpot of $1.8 billion on Wednesday, Dec. 24
- This drawing boasted the second-largest jackpot ever, according to lottery officials
- The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million
A lucky Powerball player in Arkansas is celebrating one very happy Christmas!
The Powerball drawing on Wednesday, Dec. 24, put $1.817 billion up for grabs to any player who could match all five white balls and the red Powerball — and it was won by a single ticket from Arkansas, which scooped the second largest win in Powerball history and the biggest jackpot of 2025.
Matching white balls 4, 25, 31, 52, 59 and red Powerball 19 also comes with a cash option of a cool $834.9 million.
“Congratulations to the newest Powerball jackpot winner! This is truly an extraordinary, life-changing prize,” said Matt Strawn, Powerball Product Group Chair and Iowa Lottery CEO said in a release. “We also want to thank all the players who joined in this jackpot streak – every ticket purchased helps support public programs and services across the country.”
Ufuk Celal Guzel/Anadolu via Getty
The win marks the second time a Powerball jackpot has been scooped up by a ticket holder in Arkansas, following the sale of a winning ticket in 2010.
The Arkansas ticket holder isn’t the only Powerball plaer to be celebrating this Christmas. A total of eight tickets matched all five white balls, with players Indiana, Michigan, New York (2), Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia all now celebrating a set cash prize of $1 million.
A further 114 tickets also won $50,000 prizes and another 31 tickets won $100,000 prizes.
According to Powerball, the odds of winning a prize are 1 in 24.9. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.
PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty
This latest Powerball jackpot run lasted for 47 drawings, a record for the most consecutive drawings in a single cycle, according to the release
“This jackpot is set to deliver the ultimate windfall,” Strawn said in a previous release on Dec. 18.
Powerball tickets are each $2 per play, and sold in 45 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The last jackpot was won on Sept. 6 when two tickets in Missouri and Texas split the top prize of $1.787 billion.
Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times via Getty
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The largest Powerball jackpot in history was won on Nov. 7, 2022, when an individual in California won $2.04 billion. The second largest was recently won on Sept. 6 — the most recent Powerball drawing to result in a jackpot winner.
If you or someone you know is struggling with a gambling problem, please contact the National Problem Gambling Helpline Network at 1-800-522-4700 or go to gamtalk.org.
