The biggest lottery prize in history was just one of the tickets sold in California in 2022.
At least 125 Californians ended 2022 as millionaires, thanks to a California lottery ticket. The Lottery described this year as "one of the most significant" in its history.
In early November, the $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot was sold in Los Angeles County. “That was a world record-breaking jackpot,” according to the California Lottery.
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The ticket was sold at Joe's Service Center located in Altadena, California. The jackpot reached 2.040 million dollars and the winning numbers were 10, 33, 41, 47 and 56, and the Powerball was 10.
In addition, Joe Chahayed, owner of the store, received a check for $1,000,000, for being the store that sold the winning ticket.
Millionaire lottery prizes
But this was not the only award. He was actually one of the 125 winners of millionaire sums:
In January, a person in Sacramento won $316.3 million with Powerball, a person in Moreno Valley won $13 million with SuperLotto Plus and a person in Woodland Hills won $426 million with Mega Millions.
In April, a person in San Diego won $38 million with the SuperLotto Plus and in June a person in Oxnard won $27 million with the same lottery.
In October, a San Jose resident won $251 million with Mega Millions, and finally, in November, the $41 million winner bought his SuperLotto Plus ticket in Sacramento.
Unexpected winners
The Scratchers also had an unforgettable year. In Los Angeles County, a woman claimed she bought a 200X ticket by mistake at a Vons supermarket in Tarzana. LaQuedra Edwards said that a person pushed her, and led her to press a button that she had not intended. That accidental push turned into a $10 million winning ticket.
Jose Martinez chose the Cross Word Scratcher because it was the same color as his wife's cancer awareness bracelet. That ticket was worth $2 million.
There were no winning tickets sold with all the six numbers in the December 30 Mega Millions drawing.
The jackpot for Tuesday, January 3 is estimated to grow to $785 million.