Published on: December 25, 2025, 12:13h.
Updated on: December 25, 2025, 12:13h.
A fortunate individual from Arkansas has celebrated a life-altering moment after winning a whopping $1.817 billion in the Christmas Eve Powerball drawing. This remarkable jackpot is the second-largest in the history of US lotteries, marking the end of a three-month period without any major prize winners.
“Congratulations to our new Powerball jackpot winner! This is an incredible and life-changing amount,” stated Matt Strawn, Chair of the Powerball product group and CEO of the Iowa Lottery, on the official Powerball site. “We are also grateful to all players who participated in this jackpot run—every ticket contributes to supporting public initiatives and services nationwide.”
The previous jackpot winner was on September 6, when ticket holders from Missouri and Texas shared a prize of $1.787 billion.
The fortunate winner has the option of choosing between an annuitized prize of $1.817 billion or a lump sum payment of $834.9 million before taxes. If they choose the annuity route, they will receive an initial payment followed by 29 annual payments that increase by 5% each year.
Nationally, eight tickets matched all five white balls, earning each a Match 5 prize of $1 million. These winning tickets were sold across California, Indiana, Michigan, New York (2), Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
As per the usual practice, prize amounts in California are pari-mutuel, which means payouts can differ based on both sales figures and the number of winners.
The drawing also resulted in 114 winning tickets valued at $50,000 and 31 tickets worth $100,000.
Christmas Powerballs
The last Powerball jackpot won on Christmas Eve was back in 2011, according to records from Powerball. The game has also witnessed four wins on Christmas Day, with the last being in 2013.
Powerball’s challenging odds—1 in 292.2 million—are crafted intentionally to generate enormous jackpots, allowing the prize pools to escalate through successive rollovers. Tickets are priced at $2, and the game is playable in 45 states, along with Washington, DC, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands.