FRAZIER PARK, Calif. (KABC) — The day after California Lottery officials revealed that the winning ticket for Wednesday night’s estimated $1.765 billion Powerball jackpot was sold in Kern County, an employee at the liquor store where it was purchased shared her astonished reaction.
The employee at Midway Market and Liquor in Frazier Park, Janea Herrera, described the realization as “surreal.”
After learning that the store had sold the golden ticket, “then I just couldn’t stop wondering who won,” she said in a Thursday morning interview with ABC7.
The jackpot winner has not yet come forward or been identified by lottery officials.
Asked if she thinks the ticket owner is a resident of Frazier Park, Herrera replied with a smile: “I hope so.”
The winning numbers in the drawing were 22, 24, 40, 52, 64 and the Powerball 10.
Before someone won the giant prize, there had been 35 consecutive drawings without a big winner, stretching back to July 19 when a player in California matched all six numbers and won $1.08 billion.
The jackpot is the world’s second-largest lottery prize after rolling over for 36 consecutive drawings, since the last time someone won the top prize on July 19. That streak trails the record of 41 draws set in 2021 and 2022.
The only top prize that was ever bigger was the $2.04 billion Powerball won by a player in California last November.
The $1.7 billion jackpot is for a sole winner who opts for payment through an annuity, doled out over 30 years. Winners almost always take the cash option, which for Wednesday night’s drawing is estimated at $774.1 million.
Besides the jackpot ticket sold in Frazier Park, Atlantic Wine and Spirits in Monterey Park sold a 5/5 ticket. That ticket is worth $760,111.
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The Powerball now resets at $20 million.
Powerball is played in 45 states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.