$256 million won in New York means one week to take advantage of low jackpot
By Kate Northrop
The New Jersey Lottery announced today that players can receive a free Powerball ticket this week in the "Jackpot Was Hit!" state-wide promotion.
Thanks to the $256 million Powerball jackpot being won by a single ticket in New York on Saturday, New Jersey lottery players can take advantage of a promotion that grants them free Powerball tickets.
The "Jackpot Was Hit!" promotion is running now through Sunday, Dec. 14, 2024. Whenever the Powerball jackpot is hit and resets to its starting amount of $20 million, lottery players in New Jersey are eligible to participate in the promotion for the following seven days.
Since a $256 million Powerball jackpot was won by one ticket in New York on Saturday, the promotion went live on Sunday. Players who purchase exactly three Powerball plays on a single ticket during the promotion period will receive a free $2 Powerball Quick Pick play on a trailing ticket, which is valid for the next drawing after the purchase.
Players may still purchase the Double Play and Power Play add-ons, but they do not count toward the qualifying purchase. Tickets purchased with Multi-Draw will only receive one free $2 Powerball Quick Pick play.
If the Powerball jackpot is won during the promotion before the seven days are up, the promotion restarts and runs for the next seven days, the New Jersey Lottery noted.
The New Jersey Lottery also offers the "Jackpot Was Hit!" promotion for the Mega Millions and Pick 6 draw games.
The $256 million Powerball jackpot drawn on Saturday, Dec. 7 was won by one ticket purchased at Hua Lian Supermarket on Parsons Boulevard in Flushing, New York. That ticket matched all five white ball numbers – 1, 31, 43, 55, and 57 – plus the red Powerball number 22 to win the prize. The Power Play multiplier was 2.
According to USA Mega's Jackpot Analysis, the winner will receive about $64.4 million after all federal and state taxes are deducted if selecting the cash value.
Aside from the New York winner, there were 12 winners who matched four of the first five numbers plus the Powerball to win a $50,000 prize. Six of those tickets were purchased with the Power Play option, increasing the prize to $100,000.
When a Powerball ticket is purchased with the Power Play option for an extra $1 per ticket, a second-prize win is doubled, and any other non-jackpot prize is multiplied by the Power Play number drawn that evening. A complete list of prizes available for matching various numbers can be found on the Powerball Drawing Detail page at USA Mega, as well as on the Powerball Prize Payouts and the Powerball Double Play Prize Payouts pages at Lottery Post.
The next Powerball drawing will take place Monday night at 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time with the jackpot amount reset to its starting point of $20 million.
Powerball is currently offered for sale in 45 states, plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays at 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Tickets cost $2 each.
Powerball lottery results are published within minutes of the drawing at USA Mega (www.usamega.com). The USA Mega website provides lottery players in-depth information about the United States' two biggest multi-state lottery games, Mega Millions and Powerball.
My initial thought was that all you need to do is walk into the store and you get a free ticket 🤣.
Mmh, now I need to spend at a minimum $6 to get the free ticket. Well, well, well
Thiz izzz the prediction I warned MUSL about..
It'z the sign
of them needing our money..!! And It'z gonna be worse than THAT for MM , when they Officially loze their mindz next yr..
It still soundz like the "short end of the stick" for us Playerz..Wantin US to spend MOE MONEY , in order to git Nuthin in return..
Whuut an Insult..!! Whuut KnUcKlEhEaD came up wit thizzz?
Subliminally, they're still not puttin AnYtHiNG at risk, which further provez that dem No Good fa Nutin QPz ain't worth the paper It'z printed on fa wipin ya butt wit..!!
-Stat$talker
Yes, that was my initial thought as well. But then you would have a lot more people playing the lottery for free, which is not profitable. I suppose they could rectify this with a condition stating you must've played the lottery the day it was won and bring a ticket to prove it. Or maybe make the first play only cost $1.
This is clearly an attempt to incentivize sales, especially since less people play when the jackpot resets. It only rewards players who regularly spend $6 on one drawing.
I am thinking to be fair they would have had the free ticket at 1:1. Buy one, get one free.
That would have been a meaningful incentive.
Right now it's buy three then get one free.
They would lose money because no one would buy two tickets who usually do especially after the thing got hit. Conversely those who bought two regularly would now buy three to get the free one. It's like when you only need 2 tires but they offer buy 3 and get the 4th for .01 so you shoe your vehicle all around.
I bought multiple tickets on the same card, but didn't receive another free ticket. Is the promotion over?