A Louisiana family came close to winning the $1.1 billion Powerball jackpot, missing out by just one number — but they still walked away with a big prize.
John Stokes, a father of three from DeRidder, bought a Powerball ticket for the Sept. 1 drawing, according to a news release from the Louisiana Lottery. When the winning numbers were announced, Stokes saw that he had matched four of the white ball numbers along with the red Powerball.
Because he had also chosen the Power Play option, his prize was tripled. Instead of the $50,000 he would have normally won, he took home $150,000.
Stokes said he bought the ticket at Billie’s Wag-A-Bag, LLC in DeRidder because it was close by. He and his family checked the numbers before going to bed that night.
“We were shocked and feel so blessed,” Stokes said after claiming his prize at the Louisiana Lottery’s Alexandria regional office on Sept. 2.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(768x214:770x216):format(webp)/powerball-lottery-ticket-031224-tout-89522315633c4a829583b7ac00061c17.jpg)
Rose Hudson, president of the Louisiana Lottery, congratulated the family. “We always love seeing our loyal players, like Mr. Stokes, win big,” she said. “We are excited to see more Louisiana winners come forward during this exciting and historic Powerball Jackpot run.”
As of Friday, Sept. 5, the Powerball jackpot had grown to $1.8 billion, making it the second-largest jackpot in U.S. history. The only larger prize was the $2.04 billion jackpot won in California on Nov. 7, 2022.
The next Powerball drawing is set for Saturday, Sept. 6, and will be broadcast live at 10:59 p.m. ET from the Florida Lottery studio in Tallahassee. It will also be livestreamed on Powerball.com.
In a similar case, a North Carolina man missed the $1 billion Powerball jackpot in the Aug. 30 drawing by just one number. Like Stokes, he matched four of the white balls and the red Powerball. His $50,000 prize also tripled to $150,000 thanks to the Power Play option.
