Winning $92.9million Powerball jackpot is still unclaimed in Kansas two days after being drawn

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A huge Powerball jackpot of $92.9 million remains unclaimed in Kansas - two days after being drawn.

Kansas has not had a winner of the Powerball top prize since 2012. After the ten-year gap in people scooping the jackpot, the lucky numbers in the drawing were 7, 28, 62, 63, and 64 and the Powerball was 10.

When claiming lottery wins, lucky ticket holders are able to stay anonymous if they wish. In these cases, it means that the store where the winning ticket was sold is not announced until after the prize is claimed. 

This is a security measure taken by the company, which also explained that the store that sold the ticket is eligible for a selling bonus when someone wins. Also, the company explained that some people wait to come forward to avoid publicity.

Kansas Lottery said that the Powerball jackpot ticket was sold in one of twenty counties that they have released in a list.

The latest unclaimed lottery prize comes amid a raft of others listed on the Kansas Lottery's website. Ticket values range from a few thousand to more than $50,000, with winners having a calendar year to claim their prizes. 

Kansas has not had a winner of the Powerball top prize since 2012. After the ten-year gap in people scooping the jackpot, the lucky numbers in the draw were 7, 28, 62, 63 and 64 and the Powerball was 10 (file image)

Players in the draw can earn points for drawing entries through the Kansas Lottery PlayOn Loyalty program. It allows them to submit winning and non-winning tickets. 

The system also offers players the chance to win cash and other prizes.  Last night, the Powerball Jackpot began again with a prize worth $20 million.

It comes weeks after the fourth largest Powerball jackpot of $1.2 billion was up for grabs and could have soared to a record $1.59 billion.

It reached $1.2 billion after no one matched all six numbers to win the jackpot. 

There were 38 consecutive draws without a jackpot winner since the last person won the big prize on August 3.  

That meant the total was approaching the record of $1.586 billion - previously won by three Powerball players in 2016. 

The second and third largest jackpots were won by players of the Mega Millions lottery game. 

Drew Svitko, the Pennsylvania Lottery's executive director, said: 'I think it would be close to being a record if not a record.

'The record of $1.586 billion that we had back in 2016 is within reach, but it really depends on a couple factors.'

The first factor is the number of tickets sold, and they are flying out of lottery machines throughout the country.

According to Anna Domoto, a spokeswoman for the Multi-State Lottery Association, which oversees the game, there were 131.6 million Powerball plays sold for the drawing earlier in November. 

This amounted to 36.3 percent of all possible number combinations being covered, as millions of players picked the same numbers.

 It reached $1.2 billion after no one matched all six numbers to win the jackpot. There were 38 consecutive draws without a jackpot winner since the last person won the big prize on August 3 (file image)

Although that is a high statistic, the odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, which means about 186 million number combinations weren't covered, which is why no one won the grand prize. 

The focus of the game is on the $1.2 billion prize which is the amount for an annuity doled out of over 29 annual payments.  

Nearly all winners choose a cash prize, which would be $596.7 million.

The advertised prize is based on the annuity, and that's where the second factor in determining the jackpot comes in as higher interest rates cause annuities to grow more quickly.

The $596.7 million in cash is funneled into investments that will eventually pay out $1.2 billion, and those investments grow faster as interest rates grow.  

Svitko said: 'We use investments to fund the annuity to pay that prize, so the investments rely on interest, and the degree to which interest rates affect the value of those investments also effect that jackpot.'

A Florida ticket holder matched all five white balls in a previous drawing and increased the prize to $2 million by including the game's 'Power Play' feature.

Six tickets won a $1 million prize by matching five white balls, including two in California, two in Michigan, one in Maryland, and one in Texas.

Another 17 tickets won a $150,000 prize while there were 80 winners of $50,000 each. More than 3.8 million tickets won cash prizes totaling above $38 million, Powerball said.

 That meant the total was approaching the record of $1.586 billion - previously won by three Powerball players in 2016. The second and third largest jackpots were won by players of the Mega Millions lottery game (file image)

It has been nearly three months since anyone hit all six numbers and took the lottery's top prize, with a $206.9 million jackpot win in Pennsylvania on August 3 (file image)

The Powerball jackpot has been claimed six times this year. 

Each Powerball ticket sells for $2 and are sold in 45 states as well as Washington, DC, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

Winning draws are broadcast live each Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10.59pm Eastern Time. They are also streamed live online at Powerball.com.

 A Florida ticket holder matched all five white balls in a previous drawing and increased the prize to $2 million by including the game's 'Power Play' feature

It comes after Manuel Franco, 24, from West Allis, Wisconsin, became the third largest jackpot winner in US history when he purchased a Quick Pick ticket at a Speedway in New Berlin, in March 2019 and won $768.4 million.

'It feels like a dream – like any moment I’m going to be back in my room, laying, and it's going to be a disappointment,' he said in a press conference.

‘I simply can't believe that an ordinary guy like me could ever win the Powerball.' 

Milwaukee-born Franco said he hoped to use his unfathomable change of fortune to 'help out the world.' 

The 24-year-old said he felt usually 'lucky' after work one day and decided to test the feeling by buying $10 worth of tickets.  

‘Around 2pm I had left work. I had pretty much felt lucky… it's a weird feeling, not natural at all,' he said at the press conference. 

‘I felt so lucky that I looked up at the camera and I wanted to wink at it because I really had that lucky feeling.'

Manuel Franco, 24, from West Allis, Wisconsin, became the third largest jackpot winner in US history on March 27, 2019

Franco pooled the tickets with the 10 his girlfriend had already purchased early in the week.

But despite the lucky hunch, Franco admits he went to work on the day of the March 27 draw without checking to see if his numbers had come in.

‘I went to work not knowing any better to check… I left work that day, I remember hearing that day "Powerball winner Wisconsin."

‘I got home, saw the tickets me and my girlfriend had bought together…went on my computer, searched up the Powerball numbers.’ 

He said none of his girlfriend's tickets elicited any cash, but the third of his 10 landed him four dollars - much to his delight.  

'I think it was the third ticket and I did win $4 and I was super excited about that. It doesn’t happen very often.'

Franco said he didn't think 'an ordinary guy like me' could ever win the Powerball

But checking the very last of his stubs, Franco admits he was stunned to look down and see all six matching Powerball numbers on the ticket in his hands.

'I looked at the first number, I see that second number and my heart starts to pump. I’m like “No fricking way.” 

‘I looked at the Powerball number and it matched. At this point it was going insane. I don’t want to embarrass myself on live TV, but it was amazing. 

'My heart was pumping and my blood felt warm; I screamed for about five or ten minutes.' 

Franco said he never bothered cashing in the $4 ticket. 

In the press conference, Franco described the moment he emotionally revealed the win to his parents, leaving his father in tears and his mom confused by the outburst, wondering if he was in trouble.

Franco insists he was feeling 'lucky' after work and decided to buy a haul of lottery tickets. He was named as the winner of $768.4 million in April 2019

Franco hasn't revealed what he does for a living but he said he returned to work the following day, and found himself completely unable to concentrate.  He quit his job a day later. 

Previous to his incomprehensible win, Milwaukee-native Franco revealed that he was regularly worrying about money and desperately 'trying to get my bank account to $1,000.'

But despite the incomprehensible amount of money he now has at his disposal, Franco said he still plans to live his life as 'normal as much as possible.'  

Franco’s ticket for the March 27, 2019 drawing was the only one to match all six numbers - beating odds of 1 in 292,201,338. 

The Speedway garage where he bought the ticket was set to receive $100,000. 

Franco opted for the single pay-out option of $477 million, leaving him with a cash-sum of more than $326 million after tax.

State laws do not allow lottery winners to remain anonymous. Franco was revealed as the lucky recipient of the cash 

With laws in the state not permitting lottery winners to stay anonymous, Franco was given 180 days to cash in his ticket and reveal his identity.

'I’m just gonna take off somewhere and take my time with it,' Franco said about what the next chapter may hold for him. '[I'll] talk to my family about it and make sure I’m spending the money the right way.'

Wisconsin Lottery Director Cindy Polzin called the win an 'amazing milestone moment' for the state.

The Jackpot win became the 17th for the state since 1988, making Wisconsin the sixth state with the most lottery winners across the US.

'It truly is incredible to think that the winning ticket for this historic jackpot was sold in our own backyard,' Polzin said in a news release.

'I am extremely excited for the winner and for our state. This event puts us in the national spotlight and turns Wisconsin into WINsconsin.'

Franco purchased the winning Quick Pick ticket at a Speedway in New Berlin (shown). The garage is set to receive a handsome $100,000 as a result of the win

In 2021, an anonymous winner secured a $700 million jackpot win with a Powerball purchase in California - making them one of the biggest lottery winners of all time.

The fateful ticket was sold to an unnamed customer at an Albertsons grocery store in Morro Bay, a small, scenic coastal town near the city of San Luis Obispo, after more than four months of the prize going unclaimed.

In the days leading up to the pivotal purchase, the jackpot soared to a stunning $699.8 million - making it the fifth-largest prize in Powerball history, and the seventh-largest US lotto win of all time.

Lottery officials won´t know the identity of the holder of the winning ticket until a claim form is filed, the California Lottery said. 

The winner will be able to choose between an annuity option - paid in installments over the course of 29 years - or cash, in which case their winnings will be reduced by nearly thirty percent, to a sum of $496 million. 

Both prize options are subject to taxes.  

The fateful ticket was sold to an unnamed customer at an Albertsons grocery store in Morro Bay, a small, scenic coastal town near the city of San Luis Obispo, after more than four months of the prize going unclaimed

The game's grand prize had climbed to astronomical heights, as no participants were able to pick out a winning combination of numbers - which meant the sum would continue to grow larger until a winner emerged. 

However, after 40 drawings without a winner, the single ticket - sold at the small-town store situated along California's Central Coastal region - managed to match ALL six numbers, including the all-important Powerball, garnering them nearly $700 million in winnings.

For selling the fateful ticket, the Morro Bay Albertsons received a maximum bonus of $1 million. 

The winning numbers drawn were 12, 22, 54, 66, and 69. The Powerball - the coup de grâce that yields the game's grand prize - was 15.

In the days leading up to the pivotal purchase, the jackpot soared to a stunning $699.8 million - making it the fifth-largest prize in Powerball history, and the seventh-largest US lotto win of all time

Powerball holds the world record for the largest prize ever awarded in US lotto history, after a jackpot in January 2016, for the first time passed the $1 billion threshold. 

The advertised jackpot stood at $1.586 billion. 

The unprecedented purse was split between three winning tickets in California, Florida, and Tennessee.

Powerball's third-largest jackpot, a $758.7 million sum won by a then-53-year-old Mavis Wanczyk of Massachusetts in 2017, stood as the largest single win of a jackpot in history at the time, but has since been surpassed.

Mavis, however, elected to take home the lump cash sum, which reduced her winnings to a still respectable $480.5 million.

The winner in Morro Bay now earns the distinction of the winner of the fourth-largest Powerball jackpot since the game was conceived nearly 30 years ago, in 1992. 

This win, the 41st drawing over the course of more than four months, set a record for the amount of draws before garnering a grand prize, topping the previous mark of 36 drawings that eventually yielded a winner in January 2021. 

As stated the longer the game goes without a grand prize winner, the larger the payout grows - a purposeful concept implemented by organizers, to draw in more players.

The odds of winning the game's grand prize is an awe-inspiring 292.2 million to one.

However, a slew of people have won smaller prizes playing the particular lotto - including 2.8 million players in Saturday's drawing alone. 

Those winnings ranged from $1 million to $4.

Powerball holds the world record for the largest prize ever awarded in US lotto history, after a jackpot in January 2016, for the first time passed the $1 billion threshold. 

The advertised jackpot stood at $1.586 billion. 

The unprecedented purse was split between three winning tickets in California, Florida, and Tennessee.