One person in Arkansas woke up on Christmas morning $1.8 billion richer – before taxes, of course. The Powerball lottery prize is the largest of the year and the second-largest U.S. lottery jackpot in history.
Only one person matched all the winning numbers in the Christmas Eve drawing – 4, 25, 31, 52, 59 and red Powerball 19 – which comes with a lump-sum award of $834.9 million, again, before taxes.
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Powerball and Christmas wins
There’s precedent for holiday luck. Powerball says they’ve drawn jackpot winners on Christmas Eve, in 2011, and four times on Christmas Day, in 1996, 2002, 2010, and 2013.
“Much like the holidays, Powerball is a game that brings people together to dream big and hope for a brighter future,” said Matt Strawn, Powerball Product Group Chair and Iowa Lottery CEO. “We hope this growing jackpot inspires excitement and joy, and, most importantly, goodwill to all.”
Plenty of smaller winners, too
Though just one person is walking away with the big prize, several people nationwide will also see life-changing awards.
Eight tickets matched all five white balls, in California, Indiana, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Most will walk away with a $1 million prize. Another 114 tickets won $50,000, and 31 won $100,000.
Lottery officials remind players to check their tickets carefully. Even without hitting the jackpot, there’s still real money on the line.
A record-setting year
After final ticket sales, Wednesday’s drawing became the second-largest Powerball jackpot ever. It’s also the second jackpot to crack the game’s top five in 2025, following September’s $1.787 billion drawing.
That prize was split between tickets sold in Missouri and Texas.
Now the reality check: your odds of winning are 1 in 292 million. But tickets cost just $2, and — statistically speaking — someone eventually wins.
The next drawing will be Saturday, Dec. 27, with a much-smaller $20 million jackpot on the line.
