A SINGLE TICKET sold in California has won a huge lottery jackpot of almost 700 million US dollars (€603 million).

The ticket matched all six numbers in the Powerball following 40 drawings without a big winner.

The winning numbers were 12, 22, 54, 66 and 69. The Powerball was 15.

Thanks to nearly four months of futility and final ticket sales, the Powerball jackpot had climbed to 699.8 million US dollars, making it the seventh largest in US lottery history.

No one had won the game’s grand prize since 5 June.

California, we have a winner! 🎉Congratulations to our lucky player from Morro Bay who matched 6/6 numbers and won the $699.8 Million #Powerball jackpot in the Monday, October 4 draw. Thank you to all our players who played. #CALottery pic.twitter.com/U8MMEH1fht

— California Lottery (@calottery) October 5, 2021

According to California Lottery’s Twitter account, the winner was from Morro Bay.

The 41st drawing set a record, topping the previous mark of 36 drawings that ended in January 2021. The longer the game goes without a grand prize winner, the larger the payout will grow.

The jackpot drought is by design, as the game’s long odds of 292.2 million to one are intended to generate massive prizes that draw more players.

The Powerball is played in 45 states plus Washington DC, the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

In Ireland, there was no winner of record €19 million Lotto jackpot last Saturday. 

The jackpot remains capped at €19,060,800 this week, while the funds that would normally go to the jackpot will now be distributed to the next lower prize tier at which there are winners.