Will California strike gold (again) in $1.5B Powerball jackpot?
Edwin Castro, Theodorus Struyck, Rosemary Casarotti, Marvin and Mae Acosta are the biggest Powerball and Mega Millions lottery winners from California.
Winning $1.22B lottery ticket sold in California
The winning ticket was sold at a gas station in Cottonwood, California.
Fox – LA
- Nabor Herrera was not aware his California store sold a winning billion-dollar ticket until he saw media gathered in front of his store the next morning.
- Edwin Castro of Altadena is the largest lottery winner in US history.
- Largest lottery jackpot ever was $2.04 billion Powerball in November 2022.
The Golden State has a glittering history when it comes to billion-dollar lottery wins, so the question practically asks itself.
With Saturday’s Powerball soaring to $1.5 billion—and a cash option of $686.5 million—this prize now ranks as the fifth-largest in Powerball history. That’s not just big; that’s record-book big.
This latest surge marks the 14th time a Powerball or Mega Millions jackpot has crossed the $1 billion threshold. And yes, once upon a time, it even climbed to a jaw-dropping $2 billion. (We’ll get to that story soon.)
So, how has California fared in these mega-money moments? Let’s take a look at the state’s biggest Lotto triumphs over the years.
Has anyone in California ever won $1+ billion lottery jackpot?
California Lottery has a few ties to those billion-dollar wins, and the organization has come a long way since its beginning: Earlier this year, California Lottery celebrated its 40-year anniversary on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025. The state’s first-ever ticket, California State Instant Lottery Game for $1, went on sale Oct. 3, 1985.
In its 40 years, the California Lottery has had quite a few hits. Record-setting wins, in fact.
California is on a hot streak when it comes to lottery wins. The big lottery wins. The Golden State claims:
- the largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history at $2.04 billion
- the most wins for billion-dollar lottery jackpots
- $1 million commissions for the retailers that sold winning tickets for the billion-dollar jackpots
And when there’s a big winner, whether it’s at a convenience store, chain grocery store or small business retailer, it’s a big to-do, with a press conference, media interviews and celebrations.
However, the lottery organization said announcing how much money that has gone toward education since 1985 “feels just as good, if not even better, than naming a big multimillion-dollar prize winner.”
“We’re proud of the more than $48 billion we’ve raised for California’s public schools,” the California Lottery said in an October 2025 news release.
The first time a lottery jackpot hit $1 billion, a ticket in California won
Powerball made history Jan. 11, 2016, the first time a lottery jackpot hit $1 billion. After no one matched all five numbers plus the Powerball in the (Saturday) Jan. 9, 2016, drawing for $949 million, the Monday jackpot soared to $1.4 billion. (No one won that drawing either.) Powerball made history again when three tickets matched all six numbers to win $1.586 billion in the (Wednesday) Jan. 13, 2016, drawing.
The jackpot started Nov. 4, 2015, at $40 million. It had rolled over almost 30 times from Nov. 4, 2015, to Jan. 13, 2016, before three tickets from California, Tennessee and Florida claimed the grand prize.
Ticket from California won part of $1.586 billion Powerball
Three tickets purchased in California, Florida and Tennessee won the Jan. 13, 2016, Powerball drawing, splitting $1.586 billion.
In 2016, FLORIDA TODAY reported Maureen Smith and David Kaltschmidt bought their winning Powerball ticket at a Publix in Melbourne Beach. The couple waited until February 2016 to claim their share of the grand prize.
Six months after the drawing, Marvin and Mae Acosta of California claimed their Powerball winnings of $528.8 million, according to the California Lottery.
The Tennessee Lottery announced a family from Munford, Tennessee, was the third winner in the $1.586 billion Powerball jackpot. John and Lisa Robinson claimed their share of the jackpot and made an impromptu appearance on NBC’s “Today” show with Savannah Guthrie and Carson Daly to announce their win.
What is the biggest lottery prize in U.S. history?
The $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot won by Edwin Castro of Altadena. After months of rollovers, the Nov. 7, 2022, Powerball drawing ballooned to a whopping $2.04 billion. The jackpot was an estimated $1.9 billion days before the drawing, but lottery ticket sales pushed it to more than $2 billion after updated calculations. The drawings had rolled over 40 times since Aug. 3, 2022. Edwin Castro finally won the lottery with these winning numbers: 10-33-41-47-56 and the Powerball was 10. Castro officially came forward to claim his winnings on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14. 2023, almost three months later.
Ticket from Los Angeles, won $1.08 billion Powerball
A single ticket was purchased in California for the July 19, 2023, Powerball drawing for $1.08 billion. The winning ticket was sold at Las Palmitas Mini Market in Los Angeles, which received a $1 million bonus commission, according to California Lottery officials. Owner Nabor Herrera was not aware that he’d sold the winning ticket until he saw media gathered in front of his store, the morning after the drawing. Yanira Alvarez of California claimed the prize.
Ticket from Frazier Park won $1.73 billion Powerball
For the $1.73 billion Powerball prize for Oct. 11, 2023, Theodorus Struyck of California came forward to claim the ticket. California Lottery said he represented a group of winners. In California, a big jackpot winner must claim the ticket in person. It was purchased at Midway Market in Frazier Park.
Ticket from Cottonwood won $1.269 billion Powerball
One lucky lottery player had quite a holiday season: Just after Christmas and Hanukkah and ahead of New Year’s Eve, a ticket in California correctly matched all five numbers plus the Mega Ball to win the $1.22 billion Mega Millions drawing for Dec. 27, 2024. Months later, the winner was revealed on the luckiest holiday of all — St. Patrick’s Day 2025. Rosemary Casarotti of California officially collected her prize, which had ballooned to $1.269 billion after final ticket sales.
Casarotti opted for the lump sum, valued at more than $571 million less federal taxes.
The ticket was sold at a Circle K in the small town of Cottonwood. The convenience store on Rhonda Road in Shasta County received a $1 million bonus. Retail bonuses vary by state — for example, two Publix stores in Florida received $100,000 each during previous billion-dollar jackpots. The $1 million bonus is the largest amount a California Lottery retail partner can earn.
Two other California Lottery players missed the jackpot by just one number, matching the first 5 numbers correctly. One was sold at a Chevron gas station in Roseville, and the other came from Cardenas Market in San Bernardino. According to the California Lottery, each of those winning tickets was worth more than $787,500, and the winners had six months to claim their prize. Jackpot winners have one year from the date of the draw.
California Lottery announces winner of $1.269 billion lottery
On Monday, the California Lottery announced the winning ticket was purchased by Rosemary Casarotti at a Circle K in Cottonwood, California.
In California, can lottery winners remain anonymous?
In California, big lottery jackpot winners cannot remain anonymous or claim their prize as a trust (such as in other states like Michigan and Florida). So someone, such as Theodorus Struyck, has to come forward.
Lottery experts have said there are ways to maintain privacy such as Powerball billionaire winners Marvin and Mae Acosta of California, who split the $1.586 billion Powerball on Jan. 13, 2016, with two other couples from Tennessee (John and Lisa Robinson) and Melbourne Beach, Florida (David Kaltschmidt and Maureen Smith). The Acostas, and largest lottery jackpot winner ever Edwin Castro declined to have their photo or video footage released to the public during their respective California Lottery press conferences.
In a March 16, 2025, news release, California Lottery spokesperson Carolyn Becker said the $1.269 billion Mega Millions winner would not be present at its news conference and had declined to appear in photos, video and other media interviews. The press conference was held at Sunshine Food and Gas, Circle K, 3505 Rhonda Road, Cottonwood.
How long does it take for a Powerball or Mega Millions lottery to reach $1 billion?
It varies depending on number of rollovers and ticket sales. In the past nine years, a jackpot would reach $1 billion or more after just two months of rollover drawings.
As of Dec. 18, 2025, the Powerball and Mega Millions lottery jackpots have reached or surpassed $1 billion 14 times in history. Only once has a lottery jackpot reached or surpassed $2 billion − and Edwin Castro of Altadena, California, was the sole winner of that $2.04 billion jackpot in November 2022.
Sangalang is a lead digital producer for USA TODAY Network. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram at @byjensangalang. Support local journalism. Consider subscribing to a Florida newspaper.
This content is sourced from www.desertsun.com and is shared for informational purposes only.
