A Louisiana family came very close to winning the $1.1 billion Powerball jackpot, missing out by just one number — but they still took home 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, he realized he had matched four of the white ball numbers plus the red Powerball number.
Because Stokes had also added the Power Play option to his ticket, his winnings were tripled. While he didn’t win the $1.1 billion jackpot, he did score $150,000.
He told the Louisiana Lottery that he purchased the ticket at Billie’s Wag-A-Bag, LLC in DeRidder on Sept. 1 because of its convenient location. Later that night, just before going to bed, his family decided to check the numbers.
“We were shocked and feel so blessed,” Stokes said when he and his family claimed the prize at the lottery’s Alexandria regional office on Sept. 2.
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“We always love seeing our loyal players, like Mr. Stokes, win big,” said Rose Hudson, president of the Louisiana Lottery, in a statement. “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 risen to $1.8 billion, making it the second-largest in U.S. lottery history. The biggest jackpot ever was $2.04 billion, won in California on Nov. 7, 2022, according to Powerball.
The next drawing will take place on Saturday, Sept. 6, at 10:59 p.m. ET. It will be broadcast live from the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee and also livestreamed on Powerball.com.
In a similar case, a North Carolina man also missed the Powerball jackpot by one number in the Aug. 30 drawing, when the prize was $1 billion. He matched four of the five white balls plus the red Powerball, winning $50,000. Since he, too, had purchased a Power Play ticket, his winnings were multiplied to $150,000.
