WASHINGTON — While Saturday night's Powerball drawing for a $1.326 billion jackpot was delayed for a few hours, someone eventually won the grand prize for the first time in more than three months.
When the drawing was supposed to take place at 10:59 p.m. Eastern, the Powerball host announced a "technical problem" had made it so they couldn't hold the drawing at that time. Lottery organizers announced a few minutes later that the issue was that one participating state lottery needed more time to complete required pre-draw procedures.
The drawing eventually took place in the Florida Lottery studio just before 2:30 a.m. Sunday, Powerball said in a statement.
Powerball later announced one ticket in Oregon won the $1.326 billion jackpot.
In addition to the jackpot winner, there were seven tickets across the country that matched all five white balls to win $1 million prizes. The $1 million-winning tickets were sold in Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan and Wyoming.
As of early Sunday morning, lottery organizers did not identify the state which caused the delay.
This isn't the first time a highly anticipated Powerball drawing had to be delayed for this reason. Back in 2022, a drawing for the largest-ever jackpot was delayed nearly 10 hours because the Minnesota Lottery had issues processing sales, the lottery game said at the time.
"Powerball game rules require that every single ticket sold nationwide be checked and verified against two different computer systems before the winning numbers are drawn. This is done to ensure that every ticket sold for the Powerball drawing has been accounted for and has an equal chance to win. Tonight, we have one jurisdiction that needs extra time to complete that pre-draw process," the lottery said Saturday night.
The winning numbers and video of the delayed drawing were posted on the Powerball website early Sunday morning.
Winning Powerball numbers for Saturday, April 6
The winning numbers for Saturday's drawing were 22, 27, 44, 52, 69 and Powerball 9. The Power Play multiplier was 3X.
When was Powerball drawn?
Saturday night’s scheduled drawing was held up and took place in the Florida Lottery studio just before 2:30 a.m. Sunday to enable one of the organizers to complete required procedures before the scheduled time of 10:59 p.m., Powerball said in a statement.
Powerball is played in 45 states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
What are the odds of winning the Powerball?
The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are one in 292.2 million.
Over the past few years, huge lottery jackpots have become more common as lottery officials have changed the rules and ticket prices to boost top prizes.
Powerball's biggest change came in 2021 when officials decided to add a Monday drawing to its weekly lineup of Wednesday and Saturday evening drawings. At the time of the announcement, Powerball proclaimed the addition of the Monday drawing would lead to "larger, faster-growing jackpots."
What are the largest Powerball jackpots?
- $2.04 Billion – Nov. 7, 2022 – CA
- $1.765 Billion – Oct. 11, 2023 - CA
- $1.586 Billion – Jan. 13, 2016 – CA, FL, TN
- $1.326 Billion – April, 6, 2024 - OR
- $1.08 Billion – July 19, 2023 – CA
- $842.4 Million – January 1, 2024 – MI
- $768.4 Million – March 27, 2019 – WI
- $758.7 Million – Aug. 23, 2017 – MA
- $754.6 Million – Feb. 6, 2023 - WA
- $731.1 Million – Jan. 20, 2021 – MD