1 $400M Powerball winner

A sole ticket holder will claim the Powerball jackpot that was drawn on Wednesday, September 18, 2013. The ticket is valued at nearly $400 million if taken as an annuity payment. The prize totals $223 million if taken as a lump sum payment. That equals approximately $134 million after taxes have been taken from it.

The ticket holder made the winning purchase from a Murphy USA store in Lexington, South Carolina. The person who possesses the ticket has not come forward as of early Friday morning. Advice for the winner is to sign the ticket, place it in a safe location and then seek financial advice prior to staking claim to the riches.

The odds of winning the life altering prize was 1 in 175 million. This drawing makes the second in a row of its kind. A drawing in August was won by three different ticket holders for approximately $448 million. The biggest such jackpot was won in May by an 84-year-old widow in Florida. That prize was a whopping $590 million; the largest in lottery history.

The recent rise in jackpot prize awards are attributed to a boost in ticket prices. The price jumped from $1 to $2. The addition of Florida to the states that sell the tickets is another reason given for the boost in total jackpot amounts.