A convenience store employee prays while Jackpot payouts for Powerball and Mega Millions are displayed outside the store, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Pedestrians walk past a sign showing the Powerball jackpot of over one billion dollars at Rossi's Deli in San Francisco, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
The jackpot for the Powerball lottery game is displayed outside Ted's State Line Mobil station, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025, in Methuen, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
A person fills out a Powerball lottery ticket on Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
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A convenience store employee grabs a Powerball lottery ticket for a customer on Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
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A powerball ticket is pictured Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
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A convenience store employee prays while Jackpot payouts for Powerball and Mega Millions are displayed outside the store, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
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Pedestrians walk past a sign showing the Powerball jackpot of over one billion dollars at Rossi's Deli in San Francisco, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
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The jackpot for the Powerball lottery game is displayed outside Ted's State Line Mobil station, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025, in Methuen, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
A Powerball ticket purchased at a gas station outside Little Rock, Arkansas, won a $1.817 billion jackpot in Wednesday's Christmas Eve drawing, ending the lottery game’s three-month stretch without a top-prize winner.
The winning numbers were 04, 25, 31, 52 and 59, with the Powerball number being 19. The winning ticket was sold at a Murphy USA in Cabot, lottery officials in Arkansas said Thursday. No one answered the phone Thursday at the location, which was closed for Christmas. The community of roughly 27,000 people is 26 miles (42 kilometers) northeast of Little Rock.
Final ticket sales pushed the jackpot higher than previous expected, making it the second-largest in U.S. history and the largest Powerball prize of 2025, according to . The jackpot had a lump sum cash payment option of $834.9 million.
“Congratulations to the newest Powerball jackpot winner! This is truly an extraordinary, life-changing prize,†Matt Strawn, Powerball Product Group Chair and Iowa Lottery CEO, was quoted as saying by the website. “We also want to thank all the players who joined in this jackpot streak — every ticket purchased helps support public programs and services across the country.â€
The prize followed 46 consecutive drawings in which no one matched all six numbers.
The last drawing with a jackpot winner was Sept. 6, when players in Missouri and Texas won .
Organizers said it is the second time the Powerball jackpot has been won by a ticket sold in Arkansas. It first happened in 2010.
The last time someone won a Powerball jackpot on Christmas Eve was in 2011, Powerball said. The company added that the sweepstakes also has been won on Christmas Day four times, most recently in 2013.
Powerball’s odds of 1 in 292.2 million are designed to generate big jackpots, with prizes growing as they roll over when no one wins. Lottery officials note that the odds are far better for the game’s many smaller prizes.
“With the prize so high, I just bought one kind of impulsively. Why not?†Indianapolis glass artist Chris Winters said Wednesday.
Tickets cost $2, and the game is offered in 45 states plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
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Associated Press videojournalist Obed Lamy in Indianapolis contributed.
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Olivia Diaz is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
