$1.8B Powerball drawing turns up winners in Texas, Missouri

A nearly $1.8 billion Powerball jackpot finally found winners during Saturday night's draw, the Multi-State Lottery Association said, Report informs via NBC News.

The jackpot winners hailed from Texas and Missouri, resulting in a two-way split of a $1.787 billion jackpot, the association said in a statement late Saturday.

Winners will be able to choose one of two ways to claim their half of the jackpot: an annuitized prize of $893.5 million or a lump-sum payment of $410.3 million. The annuitized prize would come in 30 payments over a 29-year span.

The winning ticket in Texas was sold at a gas station convenience store, Big's 103, in Fredericksburg, according to the Texas Lottery. Fredericksburg is located in the Hill Country, about 35 miles northeast of Kerrville, the small city that was hit especially hard during devastating flooding that killed more than 100 people statewide in July.

Big's 103 manager, Melanie Carter, said she learned of the store's role in the Powerball jackpot early Sunday when employees reached out to her with the news.

"We're a new store," she said, "so we never would have expected it to be us."

Like some of her customers, she hopes the winner is a local.

"We see people from all over, so there's no telling who won," Carter said. "But I do hope it was a local and I do hope it was somebody that needed it. It's a blessing whoever won."

Customer Carson McCoy said he's from flood-devastated Kerrville and has similar hopes for the Texas winner.

"We need all the help we can get over there," he said during a break from working with sheep. "It's a lot of money you can do some good with."

The Texas Lottery said in a statement the store is eligible to receive $250,000 for selling the co-winning ticket. It was unclear where the winning ticket in Missouri was sold, and the identities of the winners have not been released.

Saturday's drawing was for the second largest in Powerball history, lottery officials said.

It was also "the largest prize involving a Texas Lottery player," the Texas Lottery said.

The jackpot had grown because there were no winners since May 31. The only jackpot worth more than Saturday's was the $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot won in California on Nov. 7, 2022, they said.

The winning numbers Saturday were 11, 23, 44, 61, 62 and Powerball 17.