Here’s where Washington’s biggest Powerball jackpot was won. Could lightning strike twice?
Powerball jackpot soars to $1.7B for Saturday’s drawing
After 41 straight drawings without a grand prize winner, the Powerball jackpot has grown to the third-largest in history.
Straight Arrow News
It can almost feel like Groundhog Day at times. Lottery officials announce that the Powerball jackpot has hit a new record high. The drawing comes and goes. No winner is declared. Rinse and repeat.
We’re currently at the start of this cycle. The Powerball jackpot has grown to an estimated $1.7 billion, the third-largest in the game’s history, after no tickets matched all six numbers in the Sept. 3 drawing. The jackpot amount may even be revised upward ahead of the next drawing on Saturday, Sept. 6.
Will someone finally be crowned a winner over the weekend? Maybe. But instead of focusing on what might happen, let’s take a step back and look at what did happen, back in 2023, when a woman in Washington state won what was, at that time, the fifth-largest Powerball jackpot of all time.
What is the largest Powerball jackpot win in Washington state?
The largest Powerball jackpot in Washington state came on Feb. 6, 2023, when Becky Bell, an Auburn resident who worked as a supply chain analyst for The Boeing Company, hit all six winning numbers in that day’s drawing: 5-11-22-23-69 and the Powerball, 7, according to a Washington’s Lottery news release.
What was the jackpot amount?
Bell won $754.6 million, which, at the time, was the fifth-largest jackpot in the history of the Powerball game, according to the release. Now, the prize stands as the game’s 10th-largest jackpot.
Where was the winning ticket sold?
Bell bought the Powerball ticket from a Washington’s Lottery vending machine on Feb. 5, 2023, at her local Fred Meyer at 801 Auburn Way N in Auburn, King County, where she was grocery shopping with her daughter.
Bell didn’t realize she had won until she was scrolling through the news while getting ready for a work meeting and saw that the winning Powerball ticket was sold where she lived.
“That could be me,” Bell remembered thinking, according to the Washington’s Lottery release. “After my meeting, I scanned my first ticket and it wasn’t a winner. Then I scanned the second ticket and it said ‘Winning ticket. Claim at Lottery Office.’ So, I knew I had won at least $600, which was pretty exciting.”
Bell’s winning ticket ended up being the jackpot winner.
“I’ve never won more than $20 in my life, so you can imagine my shock when I realized what had just happened,” Bell said, according to the release. “I just broke down and cried.”
What did Bell intend to do with the money?
While Bell had been preparing for retirement after working at Boeing for nearly 36 years, she didn’t immediately quit her job, according to the release. Instead, she continued training the people who would be taking over her job responsibilities. She did move up her retirement date, however.
According to Washington’s Lottery, Bell said she intended to take care of her family with the winnings.
“The funny thing was my mom misheard me when I told her how much I won,” Bell was quoted as saying. “She said ‘Seven million … that’s great, honey. Everyone can have a million.’ Then I had to say, ‘No, mom, seven HUNDRED million dollars. Pretty soon, everyone was crying.”
Did Fred Meyer get a bonus for selling the winning ticket?
Yes, Washington’s Lottery awarded a $50,000 selling bonus to Fred Meyer for selling the winning Powerball jackpot ticket. Fred Meyer said it was going to donate the entire amount to the Auburn Food Bank, providing about 66,000 meals, according to the release.
What are the top 10 Powerball jackpots?
- $2.04 billion: Nov. 2, 2022, Won in California
- $1.765 billion: Oct. 11, 2023, Won in California
- $1.70 billion (estimated): Sept. 6, 2025: TBD
- $1.586 billion: Jan. 13, 2016, Won in California, Florida, Tennessee
- $1.326 billion: April 6, 2024, Won in Oregon
- $1.08 billion: July 19, 2023, Won in California
- $842.4 million: Jan. 1, 2024, Won in Michigan
- $768.4 million: March 27, 2019, Won in Wisconsin
- $758.7 million: Aug. 23, 2017, Won in Massachusetts
- $754.6 million: Feb. 6, 2023, Won in Washington state
Where is the Powerball lottery game offered?
Powerball is played in 45 states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to the Powerball website.
When is the next Powerball drawing on Sept. 6, 2025?
The next Powerball drawing on Sept. 6, 2025, will happen at 7:59 p.m. PT/10:59 p.m. ET, according to the Powerball website, where the drawing will be streamed live.
This content is sourced from www.kitsapsun.com and is shared for informational purposes only.
