Powerball player misses $1 billion jackpot but still wins big in North Carolina
A Powerball ticket sold in North Carolina was just one number off from hitting the $1.03 billion jackpot.
The ticket matched four of the five winning numbers from the Aug. 30 drawing, plus the Powerball, according to the North Carolina Education Lottery.
The player purchased the Power Play, which turned the $50,000 win into $150,000.
The ticket was bought in Monroe, the lottery said in a news release. Two other players in North Carolina won $50,000 each.
Several lottery players across the U.S. won millions, including players in Colorado, Indiana and New Hampshire who won $2 million each after matching five winning numbers and the Power Play but not the Powerball.
Players in Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania won $1 million by matching five numbers but not the Powerball. Four players in California, which adjusts lottery prizes based on the number of tickets sold and number of winners, matched five numbers but not the Powerball to win $1.1 million each.
Powerball jackpot rises
Nobody won the grand prize, which rises to an estimated $1.1 billion, with a cash value of about $498.4 million, for the next drawing Monday, Sept. 1, the national Powerball site said.
More than 4.7 million other Powerball tickets sold in the United States also won prizes ranging from $4 to $150,000, the lottery said.
The Powerball jackpot was last won May 31, when a California player hit the $204.5 million grand prize.
What to know about Powerball
To score a jackpot in the Powerball, a player must match all five white balls and the red Powerball.
The odds of scoring the jackpot prize are 1 in 292,201,338.
Tickets can be bought on the day of the drawing, but sales times and price vary by state.
Drawings are broadcast Saturdays, Mondays and Wednesdays at 10:59 p.m. ET and can be streamed online.
Powerball is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
This story was originally published August 31, 2025 at 3:40 PM with the headline "Powerball player misses $1 billion jackpot but still wins big in North Carolina."
