SoCal, the land of dreams? Ask the Powerball winners

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Powerball winners: Is Southern California a lucky place for lottery players?

In the span of just the last 12 months, there have been three separate lottery jackpots in excess of $1 billion sold at SoCal stores.

That includes the top two largest jackpots ever won in U.S. history, in addition to the eighth largest.

While Powerball is played across 45 states, those three billion-dollar-plus tickets were all sold within 100 miles of each other.

And all since November 2022.

That includes Wednesday’s Powerball jackpot of $1.765 billion, sold at a liquor store in Frazier Park.

“This is our third billion-dollar Powerball jackpot in the span of a year here in California,” said state lottery spokesperson Carolyn Becker.

“California is home to more lottery players than any other states, so it doesn’t totally surprise me and we’re thrilled to celebrate it with them.”

And that also brings benefits to the state itself. Sales from the latest Powerball drawing, since the last jackpot was hit in July, brought in more than $119 million for the state’s public schools. And over the last 40 years, the lottery has brought in more than $41 billion for California schools.

We still don’t know who hit Wednesday’s Frazier Park jackpot or the $1.08 billion Powerball ticket sold in downtown Los Angeles in July. The $2.04 billion jackpot sold in Altadena was claimed by Edwin Castro, who has maintained a low public profile since the win was announced.

Biggest jackpots ever

Here are the 10 biggest jackpots in the U.S. history:

1. $2.04 billion, Powerball winners, Nov. 8, 2022 (one ticket, sold in Altadena, Calif.)

2. $1.765 billion, Powerball winners, Oct. 11, 2023 (one ticket, sold in Frazier Park, Calif.)

3. $1.586 billion, Powerball winners, Jan. 13, 2016 (three tickets, from California, Florida, Tennessee)

4. $1.58 billion, Mega Millions, Aug. 8, 2023 (one ticket, from Florida)

5. $1.537 billion, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018 (one ticket, from South Carolina)

6. $1.35 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023 (one ticket, from Maine)

7. $1.337 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022 (one ticket, from Illinois)

8. $1.08 billion, Powerball, July 19, 2023 (one ticket, sold in downtown Los Angeles)

9. $1.05 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 22, 2021 (one ticket, from Michigan)

10. $768.4 million, Powerball, March 27, 2019 (one ticket, from Wisconsin)

$1.765 billion Powerball jackpot goes to lucky lottery player in California