The Biggest American Powerball Payouts of All Time

• WHAT IS THE AMERICAN POWERBALL?
• US POWERBALL RECORD WINNERS
• $2.04 BILLION
• $1.765 BILLION
• $1.586 BILLION
• $1.33 BILLION
• $1.08 BILLION
• $758.7 MILLION
• HOW TO BET ON THE AMERICAN POWERBALL FROM SOUTH AFRICA
• HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO BET ON THE U.S. POWERBALL FROM SOUTH AFRICA?
• I WON A U.S. POWERBALL PRIZE - WHAT NOW?
• BECOME THE NEXT U.S. POWERBALL WINNER

WHAT IS THE AMERICAN POWERBALL?

Powerball is an American lottery which was formed in April 1992, replacing the original Lotto America which ran from 1988 – 1992. Powerball is available in 46 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Draws take place on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 11:00 pm, which equates to 6:00 am SAST on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Powerball is operated by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL).

Unlike the major European lottos, Powerball has no prize money cap and keeps rolling until someone wins, this leads to such huge payouts.

US POWERBALL RECORD WINNERS

Only 11 states in the US allow lottery winners to remain anonymous. These states are Arizona, Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, Virginia, and Texas.

As the majority of states require the winners to reveal their identities, we can learn a bit about their stories, which can sometimes be quite interesting. Here are the biggest Powerball winners.

Top 6 USA Powerball Payouts
Prize	Date	Location
$2,04 billion	7 November 2022	California
$1,765 billion	11 October 2023	California
$1,586 billion*	13 January 2016	Florida, Tennesse, California
$1,326 billion	7 April 2024	Oregon
£1,08 billion	19 July 2023	California

*Shared between three tickets.

Note that lottery wins in the US are subject to an initial federal tax of 24%. However, the top federal marginal tax rate of 37% is deducted by the IRS, plus additional state and local taxes may apply depending on where the ticket was purchased. If the winner chooses to take home their winnings as a lump sum as opposed to the annuity option, the total is reduced further. Therefore, the total amount that the winner takes home is significantly reduced, although, for these mega payouts, the final amount still ranges into the hundreds of millions. Forbes has written an article which explains how a billion-dollar win would be taxed.

#1) $2.04 billion (R352 billion) - Nov. 7, 2022 - Edwin Castro, California

On November 7, 2022, history was made. The record payout winner from California, USA, won $2.04 billion. The winner, Edwin Castro, bought their ticket at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena. The business owner was gifted a bonus prize of $1 million (R17 million) for selling the winning single ticket.

Edwin's lucky break came when they matched all five numbers and Powerball correctly. The winning numbers were 10, 33, 41, 47, 56 and the Powerball was 10.

#2) $1.765 billion (R33.6 billion) - Oct. 11, 2023 - Theodoras Struyck, Los Angeles

After a run of 35 draws without a winner, the US PowerBall was finally hit on October 11, 2023. The winning ticket was purchased in Los Angeles, netting Theodoras an astonishing $1.765 billion (c.R33.6 billion). This is the second biggest payout in lotto history, and incredibly means that someone from California has won each of the three biggest payouts of all time! On this occasion, the winning numbers were 22-24-40-52-64, and the Powerball was 10.

#3) $1.586 billion* (R28.6 billion) - Jan. 13, 2016 - Florida, Tennessee and California

The current third-largest lottery payout was hit on January 13, 2016, with a whopping $1.586 billion (R28.6 billion). The lucky numbers were 4,8,18,27, and 34, with the Powerball 10. The prize money was split between three tickets won in three different states. The three winning couples opted for the lump sum of $328 million (R5.9 billion).

David Kaltschmidt and Maureen Smith - Florida

Originally from Long Island, New York but residing in Melbourne Beach, Florida, David lost 10 lbs from stress before the couple even collected their prize. David purchased an SUV and Maureen a gold Tesla but the couple decided to remain in their $300,000 home (R5.4 billion) located in a prime real estate location by the sea, which included a dock for David’s 15 ft fishing boat. As the couple were already relatively well-off and enjoying their life in Florida, not a great deal changed in terms of their lifestyle, with neighbours claiming, ‘they were nice, humble people before and they are exactly the same now’.

John and Lisa Robinson – Tennessee

The Robinsons initially claimed they would be staying in the modest home in Munford. John stated, “We’re just like y’all. These big fancy houses are nice, but you gotta clean ‘em.” However, six months later, the Robinson family was living in a $6.2 million (R112 million), 10-bedroom mansion on 320 acres (129 hectares) of land, including a private lake.

You can’t really blame them after winning $328 million (R5.9 billion), they would still have had plenty left over to live out the rest of their days. They were living a modest, small-town, middle-class life prior to their win, unlike David and Maureen, who were already living it up in Florida.

Marvin and Mae Acosta – California

This couple from Chino Hills was in no rush to go on a spending spree as they took 6 months to claim their prize, reportedly ‘laying low on purpose’. According to California Lottery Director Hugo Lopez, the couple had read their ‘Winner’s Handbook’ and assembled a team of legal and financial advisors.

This was later confirmed by the couple, who said they would commit ‘nearly all of this new resource to a Trust and to charities that are important (to them)’. This win was also great news for Balbir Atwal, owner of the 7-Eleven that sold the ticket, who received a mega bonus of $1 million (R18 million) for selling the ticket.

#4) $1.33 billion (R24.6 billion) - April 7, 2024 - Annonymous, Oregon

After a draw that was delayed for hours due to technical failures, a lucky punter in Oregon had their dreams come true when the numbers 22, 27, 44, 52, 69  and the Powerball 9 were drawn. It took less than 24 hours for the winner of the $1.33 billion payout to come forward and claim the second billion-dollar payout in the USA in less than a month!

#5) $1.08 billion (R19 billion) - Jul. 19, 2023 - Yanira Alavarez, California

The current fifth-biggest payout was won in July 2023. The winning ticket was purchased in Los Angeles, California, although the winner took some time to be identified! It was only in March 2024 that the winner was eventually confirmed to be Yanira Alvarez, who had bought the ticket in a mini-market in the centre of the city. Incredibly, this was the city's second billion-dollar winner in just eight months!

HOW TO BET ON THE AMERICAN POWERBALL FROM SOUTH AFRICA

You can only buy tickets for the US Powerball in the United States, but fortunately, you don’t need to cross the Atlantic as you can bet on the US PowerBall from South Africa with Lottoland. Just create an account, pick your numbers and wish for the best. All from the comfort of your own home!

To win the main prize, you need to match 5 numbers from 1 to 69 plus a Powerball from 1 to 26. The odds of winning the USA Powerball are 1 in 292,201,338.

PowerPlay is an additional feature which enables you to win more money on lower tier prizes. If you win a prize on tier 2 with the PowerPlay option, your winnings are doubled! Any other prizes will be doubled either x2, x3 or x5 depending on the PowerPlay ball that is drawn. If the main prize is below $150 million, an additional x10 PowerPlay ball is added. 

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO BET ON THE U.S. POWERBALL FROM THE SOUTH AFRICA?

A single bet costs R70. 

You can also select the PowerPlay option for an extra R20, which allows you to multiply lower-tier wins by up to 5x.

I WON A USA POWERBALL PRIZE – WHAT NOW?

All of our South African customers are automatically verified; for large sums such as America's Powerball's main prize, an additional document scan may potentially be requested to ensure the money goes to the right person. For smaller prizes, they will be automatically credited and your money will arrive in your bank account within a few business days. Of course, if you're lucky enough to hit the American Powerball main prize, we'll contact you by phone to share the good news!

With its unique insurance model, Lottoland guarantees a payout of all winnings, even the highest U.S. Powerball payouts. However, Lottoland replicates the pay-out structure of the official draws in the US, and for this reason, the total prize is reduced by 38% to make allowances for the tax that the official winners in tiers 1 to 3 would have to pay. Payment can be received as instalments over 30 years or as a lump sum paid out at 60% of the total value of the annuity amount.

BECOME THE NEXT U.S. POWERBALL WINNER

Now that you're a professional on how to bet on the U.S. PowerBall from South Africa - why not bet with Lottoland for a chance to win R3,1 billion? Simply sit back and relax and bet on one of the biggest American lotteries from the comfort of your house in South Africa with a touch of a button on your mobile/laptop! 

So, good luck, and who knows, we may include you in the next list of top U.S. Powerball winners. 

Last Updated: 9 April 2024