California appears to be entering a new gold rush, as lottery players from the state have won some of the highest jackpots in history, accounting for two of the five Powerball wins this year, with a total of $2.84 billion in jackpot prizes.
While buying a ticket in the Golden State won't increase your chances of winning, Californians bought 13.1 percent of Powerball and Mega Millions tickets nationally this year.
Carolyn Becker, a spokeswoman for the California Lottery, told DailyMail.com: “California is the most populous state in the country and that's why we have more California Lottery players than any other U.S. jurisdiction.”
From January 2 through December 20, a total of 386.5 million Powerball tickets were sold in California, accounting for 12.4 percent of national sales. There were five completed reel series during this period, meaning California accounted for 40 percent of the wins.
“This year (2023), we were thrilled to have sold two winning jackpot tickets for some of Powerball's most historic runs – both worth more than $1 billion in prize money. Other states have had similar luck with Mega Millions prizes reaching the billion dollar threshold,” Becker said.
Edwin Castro, the biggest Powerball lottery winner in US history, 'disappeared' from social media and took his friends on a luxury vacation as he prepared for a life of luxury
Castro has purchased a $4 million mansion he reportedly bought for his parents, a short drive from the suburb where he grew up
Located in Altadena, California, the five-bedroom, five-bathroom, 4,300-square-foot home features a number of luxurious amenities, including a koi pond garden
Castro also bought this $25 million home just 20 miles from his $4 million estate in California
Becker said, “Even more exciting for us, though, is that these big wins are driving our ability to maximize revenue, which is a big boost for our beneficiary, California's public education.”
“This year, for the first time in our history, we were thrilled to announce that the California Lottery generated a record more than $2.07 billion for public schools during the recently audited 2021-'22 fiscal year. That massive number shattered the previous record of over $1.88 billion set the previous year.”
Of the top 10 Powerball jackpots, Californians have won half – including the top four prizes, and two of them were won this year.
The second-highest Powerball prize of $1.765 billion was won and sold on October 11 at Midway Market & Liquor in Frazier Park, a community nestled in the Los Padres National Forest – just over an hour's drive from Los Angeles.
The fourth largest prize of $1.080 billion was won on July 19 and the winning ticket was sold at Las Palmitas Mini Market – a small convenience store in downtown Los Angeles. This year's two winners have not yet been announced.
For the Mega Millions, Californians took home two of the top 10 jackpots. In December 2013, a winner from California shared $648 million with a winner from Georgia, and in July 2018, a Californian won $543 million
Of the top 10 Powerball jackpots, Californians have won half – including the top four prizes, and two of them were won this year
The largest Powerball prize of $2.040 billion was won by Edwin Castro on November 7, 2022 in the Golden State.
In the days after his victory, Castro took his friends on a luxury vacation to Fiji and scrapped his online presence before his identity was revealed.
The third highest jackpot of $1.586 billion was won on January 13, 2016 by three winners, including Marvin and Mae Acosta of California, the Nickel 95 Trust of Florida and Lisa and John Robinson of Tennessee. The ninth largest prize of $699.8 million was won by Scott Godfrey on October 4, 2021.
However, Powerball's terrible odds of 1 in 292.2 million are designed to generate large jackpots, with the prizes getting bigger and bigger as they roll over repeatedly if no one wins. And wins in recent months have been few and far between.
Powerball is played in 45 states, as well as Washington, DC, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.
The second-highest Powerball prize of $1.765 billion was won on October 11, sold at Midway Market & Liquor (pictured) in Frazier Park – just over an hour's drive from Los Angeles
The fourth largest prize of $1.080 billion was won on July 19 and the winning ticket was sold at Las Palmitas Mini Market (pictured) – a small convenience store in downtown Los Angeles.
On social media, some users shared that they believe the Powerball is rigged due to the huge number of winners from California.
Many accuse Powerball of being corrupt, much like the state government is perceived to be.
“Everything California touches has a hand of corruption tied to it,” one person wrote.
“These people have manipulated the entire state, every program, every office, everything pays for this corrupt government in this state.”
Another said, “You'll notice that the winners are all from Democratic states and the largest Democratic state is California.
“Of course it will be resolved the same way as the elections,” the angry user wrote. The answer has generated almost 300 likes and dozens of reposts.
'Who benefits from the taxes that are deducted? From which 50%? Yeah, I'd say it's faked,” replied another.
As for the Mega Millions, California sold 345.9 million tickets from January 3 through December 19, accounting for 14 percent of national sales.
There were 10 completed reel series during that period and for one of them, winning tickets were sold in California – meaning the Golden State was responsible for 10 percent of the wins.
Californians took home two of the top 10 Mega Millions jackpots. In December 2013, a winner from California shared $648 million with a winner from Georgia, and in July 2018, a Californian won $543 million.
On Dec. 11, a Chevron station in Encino sold two winning Mega Millions tickets — a first for the state.
“While this is incredibly unusual and interesting, it is not unheard of,” Becker said.
'There are a number of explanations; maybe one person wanted to try their luck on two different rows for some reason, or maybe a few friends wanted to try their luck with the exact same numbers. We won't know exactly how this could have happened until the prize is claimed.'
Combining both Powerball and Mega Millions, California sold 732.4 million tickets out of the 5.578 billion tickets sold nationwide.
There were 15 completed rolling series during this period and three of them sold winning tickets in California.
New York also accounted for 20 percent of the total wins, while Massachusetts and Florida each accounted for 13.3 percent of the total wins
Therefore, 66.7 percent of the total wins in 2023 came from just four states.