A Powerball player in Arkansas won a $1.817bn jackpot in Wednesday’s Christmas Eve drawing, ending the lottery game’s three-month stretch without a top-prize winner.

Final ticket sales pushed the jackpot higher than previously expected, making it the second-largest in US history and the largest Powerball prize of 2025, according to www.powerball.com. The jackpot had a lump sum cash payment option of $834.9m.

“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.”

The prize followed 46 consecutive drawings in which no one matched all six numbers.

The last drawing with a jackpot winner was on 6 September, when players in Missouri and Texas won $1.787bn.

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 292.2m 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 on Wednesday.

Tickets cost $2, and the game is offered in 45 states plus Washington DC, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.