CHARLOTTE —A Powerball player just missed a $55 million jackpot — but still won a big prize in North Carolina.
The player bought a ticket that matched all but one number picked in the Sept. 13 drawing. Since the person spent an extra dollar on the Power Play option, their $50,000 prize doubled to $100,000, the N.C. Education Lottery wrote on its website and on the social media platform X.
The winning numbers: white balls 28-37-42-50-53, with red Powerball 19.
The winner has a lot to celebrate after playing Powerball online. Though the lottery can’t pinpoint where the player was when they bought the lucky ticket, they live in Shelby, a roughly 45-mile drive west from Charlotte.
The winner’s $3 ticket matched four white balls and the red ball to win big. But the ticket was one number from hitting the jackpot, which stood at an estimated $55 million the night of the drawing, according to the Powerball website.
A lottery spokesperson emailed McClatchy News details about the $100,000 win early Sept. 15, before the lucky ticket holder would have been able to claim their prize. In North Carolina, Powerball winners have about six months to come forward, rules show.
What to know about Powerball
To score the jackpot in the Powerball, a player must match all five white balls and the red Powerball.
The odds of scoring the jackpot prize are 1 in 292,201,338.
Tickets can be bought on the day of the drawing, but sales times and price vary by state.
Drawings are broadcast Saturdays, Mondays and Wednesdays at 10:59 p.m. ET and can be streamed online.
Powerball is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
