Christmas Eve winner in Arkansas lands a $1.817 billion Powerball
lottery jackpot
[December 26, 2025]
By OLIVIA DIAZ
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 www.powerball.com. 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.”
Lottery officials said they won't know who won until at least Monday
because winners must contact a claims center, which is closed for the
holidays until then, according to Karen Reynolds, a spokesperson for the
Arkansas lottery.
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 $1.787 billion.
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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)
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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