Biggest payout in state history! $768.4M Powerball ticket sold at Speedway in New Berlin

NEW BERLIN -- A single ticket that matched all six Powerball numbers to win the estimated $768.4 million jackpot — the third-largest jackpot in U.S. lottery history — was sold in New Berlin, Wisconsin Lottery officials said Thursday, March 28. It's the biggest payout in state history.

The ticket, worth a cash option of $477 million, was sold at the Speedway gas station on Beloit Road. The winner had not come forward as of Thursday, Wisconsin Lottery Director Cindy Polzin said. The gas station would receive $100,000 for selling the winning ticket.

It was the first Powerball jackpot won so far in 2019. The jackpot rolled over 25 times since the last winner just after Christmas 2018.

"We don't know who the winner is yet, but we do congratulate them," said Polzin.

Under Wisconsin law, the winner or winners can't remain anonymous and have 180 days to claim the prize, otherwise, the ticket is worthless.

There are two options the winner will have to consider: Take the $768 million as an annuity, paid over three decades, or in a cash lump sum -- a still hefty $477 million. To put it in baseball terms, it's enough money to buy every single person at Miller Park's Opening Day more than 300 brats. Bloated analogy aside, there's an argument to be made: We all won a little.

Wisconsin Department of Revenue Secretary Peter Barca said at the news conference that if the winner or winners take the cash prize, the state would claim $38 million of the winnings as tax revenue. He didn't know how much the state would receive in taxes each year if the winner or winners choose the annuity route.

"Your property tax relief just got a little bit bigger," said Polzin.

There were also two $50,000 payouts in Waukesha and Fond du Lac.

The win came almost exactly two years after Wisconsin's last Powerball jackpot, when a Milwaukee resident won $156.2 million on March 22, 2017.

Although the prize grew steadily since the previous jackpot winner on Dec. 26, 2018, the odds of matching the five white balls and single Powerball remained a dismal 1 in 292.2 million. The winning numbers Wednesday, March 27 were 16, 20, 37, 44 and 62. The Powerball number was 12.

"It's going to be a very green spring for our first Powerball jackpot winner of 2019," David Barden, Powerball Product Group chairman and New Mexico Lottery CEO, said in a statement. "A jackpot of this size can make many dreams come true -- not just for the winner, but for all Lottery beneficiaries and the lucky state of Wisconsin."

Seven tickets matched all five white balls, but missed matching the red Powerball in Wednesday's drawing to win a $1 million prize. Those tickets were sold in Arizona, two in California, Indiana, Missouri, New Jersey and New York. Two other tickets, sold in Kansas and Minnesota, matched all five white balls and doubled the prize to $2 million, because the tickets included the Power Play option for an additional $1.

Powerball is played in 44 states, plus Washington, D.C., the U.S Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.