Lottery tickets can be fun and straightforward to play as you only choose the combination and wait for a world-shaking payout if you're lucky. But your odds of winning a lottery ticket are pretty long, at 1 in 200 million or more. So, if you want some inspiration to play and win lottery games, this article will list some of the highest lottery wins in recent times.
In November 2022, Edwin Castro from California, United States, was a single winner of $2.05 billion, setting a new world record for the highest win recorded by a regulated lottery operator. Mr Castro overcame odds of 1 in 290 million to win the payout from a ticket he bought from Joe's Service Center. Interestingly, Joe Chahayed, the store owner, was rewarded $1 million for selling the ticket. At the same time, the lottery tickets paid $1 million each to the other 22 winners.
A few years earlier, in January 2016, Powerball had made history by recording the most significant lottery jackpot win by then. Three players won the $1.58 billion win after 19 consecutive draws without a winner. These players were from California, Florida, and Tennessee, and they could take the total amount over 30 years or a lump sum cash of $327.8 million before taxation.
A Maine resident purchased a life-changing lottery ticket earlier this year that eventually paid a cool $1.35 billion. Before this win, the lottery game had not crowned a winner since October 2022. The lucky winner had 1 in 300 million odds to win the ticket, making it the first lottery jackpot win for the state. As expected, the player's identity remains hidden for privacy and security reasons.
Moving away from the United States into the United Kingdom, a lucky lottery ticket holder won a record-shuttering £195 million EuroMillions jackpot in July 2022. This remains to be the biggest lottery win for the National Lottery. Like many other lottery winners, the player's identity remains undisclosed. The player can buy 10 Boeing jets, 20 submarines, and a football club with such an amount.
