While the Powerball jackpot continues to grow, a lucky Erie County Lottery player won $50,000 on a ticket sold at 7-Eleven at 4950 Harlem Road in Amherst.

“While no one hit the jackpot prize, dozens of New Yorkers are vastly richer thanks to Powerball,” said Gardner Gurney, Director of the Division of the Lottery. “New Yorkers are cashing-in big time on history.”

The Lottery encourages everyone who buys a New York Lottery draw game ticket to check their tickets again, as they could be holding a winner. Tickets expire one year after the game’s drawing.

The winner may claim the ticket at any one of the Lottery’s Customer Service Centers statewide, including the Buffalo office at 165 Genesee Street, Buffalo, NY 14203 or at Hamburg Gaming at the Fairgrounds at 5820 South Park Avenue, Hamburg, NY 14075. To learn more about how to redeem a prize, click here.

This history-making Powerball jackpot has skyrocketed sales statewide to $155.8 million for drawings leading up to and including Saturday’s record jackpot drawing. Since this Powerball jackpot began on November 7, New Yorkers buying Powerball tickets have contributed more than $54.5 million in aid to education.

The next drawing is Wednesday, January 13 with the jackpot now set at $1.4 billion. It is the biggest Powerball jackpot ever, largest jackpot prize of any lottery game in U.S. history, and the biggest lottery prize ever offered in the world that can be won with a single ticket.

If no one matches all five numbers plus the Powerball for Wednesday’s drawing, the jackpot will continue to grow. Tickets cost $2 per game and can be purchased until 10:00 p.m. EST.

Powerball is played in 44 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Prior to this jackpot, the largest Powerball jackpot was $590.5 million won in Florida in May 2013.

About the New York Lottery

The New York Lottery continues to be North America’s largest and most profitable Lottery, contributing $3.11 billion in fiscal year 2014-2015 to help support education in New York State.  The Lottery’s contribution represents 14 percent of total state education aid to local school districts. 

New York Lottery revenue is distributed to local school districts by the same statutory formula used to distribute other state aid to education.  It takes into account both a school district’s size and its income level; larger, lower-income school districts receive proportionately larger shares of Lottery school funding.