ALBUQUERQUE – The Powerball® Jackpot has been raised to $700 million. It’s now the second-largest jackpot in US history.
If the $700 million prize lands in New Mexico, it will beat the state’s previous record jackpot of $206.9 million shared by nine Powerball players from the Roswell area in September 2008.
New Mexico Lottery CEO David Barden said, “Have fun, but remember to play responsibly. Familiarize yourself with player safeguards: Sign your ticket, check your numbers, and listen for the winner tune when you have your ticket checked. New Mexico Lottery tickets expire 90 days from the date of the drawing.”
New Mexico Lottery players have until 8:00 p.m. MT Wednesday night to buy tickets for the 9:00 p.m. drawing.
The record Powerball jackpot of $1.58 billion was shared by players in California, Florida and Tennessee in January 2016.
New Mexico Powerball Jackpot Winners
Five Powerball jackpots have been won in New Mexico:
- 14 Sandia National Laboratory employees shared $131 million in November 2000;
- Isabell Delgado of Las Cruces won $32 million in February 2002;
- John San Cartier, an airman from Kirtland Air Force Base, collected $93.4 million in August 2005;
- Felipe Piña of Los Ojos claimed $62.8 million in May 2007; and
- Nine Roswell players claimed New Mexico’s largest Powerball jackpot of $206.9 million in October 2008.
How to Play Powerball
Powerball is played in 47 lotteries. To play, players choose five numbers from 1 to 69 and one Powerball number from 1 to 26. Players can also ask for a “Quick Pick,” a set of numbers chosen randomly by the lottery’s gaming system. Each wager costs $2.
In addition to the jackpot, there are eight prize levels from $4 to $1 million. The game’s Power Play® option multiples non-jackpot prizes and will double the $1 million prize to $2 million automatically. Power Play costs an additional $1 per play per drawing.
The odds of winning a Powerball jackpot are approximately 1 in 292 million. The overall odds of winning a Powerball prize are approximately 1 in 25.
Mega Millions® $1 Million Winner Claims Prize
Leonard Bulmer of Albuquerque purchased two wagers for the August 11th $393 Million Mega Millions jackpot. He didn’t win. Instead, he returned to Smith’s #494 at 5850 Eubank NE and purchased a couple more Mega Millions tickets.
On Friday night, after the draw, Mr. Bulmer checked his tickets and was told to go to Lottery Headquarters to claim his prize. (That makes for a long weekend when you’re holding a winning ticket!)
On Monday afternoon, he presented his ticket at the Lottery Claims Center. The ticket was a million-dollar winner.
Although Leonard’s wife knew he won, she still had no idea how much the ticket was worth. When asked if he would call and tell her at work, he replied, “No, I’ll tell her at home tonight.”
Leonard plans to pay some bills and relax. He still plans to play Powerball and Mega Millions – and already has his ticket for Wednesday’s $700 Million Powerball drawing.
Legislative Lottery Scholarships
Since 1996, the New Mexico Lottery has raised $741.8 million for education and more than 109,000 students have attended college on Legislative Lottery Scholarships.
More information about Legislative Lottery Scholarships is available at www.nmlottery.com.
Follow the New Mexico Lottery on Facebook (www.facebook.com/nmlottery).