The California Lottery recently announced that a Latina woman, Yanira Álvarez, was the lucky winner of last year’s Powerball jackpot, totaling an incredible $1.08 billion. The winning ticket was purchased at Las Palmitas Mini Market in downtown Los Angeles after 39 consecutive draws failed to produce a jackpot winner. The winning numbers for Álvarez’s ticket were 7, 10, 11, 13, and 24, with the Powerball number being 24.
Álvarez had the choice of receiving a one-time payment of $558.1 million before taxes or annual payments, and she opted for the lump sum. Her win marked the first of two consecutive $1 billion winning tickets in California, with another lucky player winning $1.7 billion in October of the same year at Midway Market in Frazier Park.
In another stroke of luck for Latinos in California, Edwin Castro won the largest lottery prize of 2023, a whopping $2.04 billion. Despite facing allegations of ticket theft, Castro chose to receive a single payment of $997.6 million, leaving him with $628.5 million after federal taxes.
Experts remind players that the odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292 million, while the odds for Mega Millions are 1 in 302.6 million. They recommend choosing numbers wisely and not overspending on tickets. The next Powerball draw is scheduled for this Saturday with a prize pool of $935 million, offering a lump sum option of $452.3 million for the lucky winner.
Stay tuned for more updates on the lottery draws and jackpot winners.