News writer; Opinion columnist
Pennsylvanians love playing the lottery, and in the first half of April, the lottery decided to love them back by dishing out some major wins.
From Mega Millions to Powerball, the multi-state draw games were raining cash down on the Keystone State. While no one has collected one of the big jackpots yet, some players have become instant millionaires with their tickets.
Read on to learn which games had the biggest payouts and where the winners purchased their lucky tickets.
Mega Winner
While no one took home the $125 million jackpot from the April 12 Mega Millions drawing, one fortunate Pennsylvania player did become an overnight millionaire. The player successfully picked the numbers on the five white balls, 1-12-14-16-66, but missed the yellow Mega Ball of 16.
The BG's Value Market in Lebanon County sold the winning ticket, and the retailer will receive a $5,000 commission bonus. While this was the biggest win in the state, over 28,200 other players took home at least a few dollars for correctly picking some of the winning numbers.
The big winner has yet to be identified; they're actually the second PA player in a row to win one million dollars from a Friday Mega Millions drawing. This player also correctly chose five white balls, with the numbers 20-30-54-65, but didn't pick Mega ball number 16 from the April 5 drawing. Their ticket was purchased in a Wawa in Langhome.
Power players
Everyone dreams of taking home a Powerball jackpot, and while Saturday's $54 million top prize went unclaimed, at least 33,500 Pennsylvania players had something to celebrate on Saturday, including one who collected a quarter million dollars with their ticket.
A ticket purchased online by a player in Montgomery County managed to match four of the five white balls (7-33-40-43-69) and nailed the red Powerball of 10, which was suitable for a $250,000 prize. The Powerplay multiplier was five.
The extra dollar the player spent on the Powerplay option is one of the best investments of their lives because, without it, the ticket would have been worth just $50,000.
This is the second big Powerball prize collected by a Pennsylvania player in 2024. Just two weeks prior, on March 28, a player in Deleware country won $1,000,000, although they skipped the Powerplay option, which would have made the ticket worth $2 million.
The latest Powerball jackpot is up to $63 million for the April 15 drawing.
Stay local
While the multi-state draw games get all the attention due to their massive payouts, there's enormous value to be found in some of the in-state games. One happy player learned this when they claimed $956,334 for winning the top prize with a Cash 5 with Quick Cash ticket for the April 13 drawing.
The unidentified player correctly matched all five winning numbers, 11-13-17-31-37, to take home the jackpot. The ticket was purchased at the Krewstown Beer & Beverage, which will collect a $5,000 sales bonus for issuing the winning ticket.
In addition to the top-prize winner, at least 22,900 other players won lower-tier prizes from the drawing.
Cash 5 with Quick Cash costs two dollars to play. Players need to select five numbers between 1 and 43. Whenever a number you choose is selected in the drawing, you instantly win the amount corresponding to that number, either $2 or $6.
