On Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025, one lucky Powerball ticket sold in Arkansas made lottery history. After weeks of drawings without a winner, the jackpot ballooned into a $1.817 billion fortune, the second‑largest lottery prize ever awarded in the United States. Lottery officials said the winning ticket matched all six numbers drawn just before midnight, ending a three‑month streak without a top‑prize winnerreuters.com. For Arkansas, which first sold a winning Powerball ticket in 2010, the Christmas‑week surprise marked a triumphant return to the national spotlightabc7ny.com.
Arkansas Powerball jackpot
The December drawing produced a windfall few could imagine. Final ticket sales pushed the prize from an estimated $1.7 billion to $1.817 billion, a jump that made it the largest Powerball jackpot of 2025 and the second‑largest U.S. lottery prize in historyabc7ny.com. The jackpot accrued after 46 drawings without a winnerfortune.com. The Arkansas winner can choose a 29‑year annuity worth the advertised $1.817 billion, paid in annual installments increasing by 5%, or take a one‑time cash option of about $834.9 million before taxesreuters.com. Either way, the prize is “truly an extraordinary, life‑changing” amount, Powerball Product Group chair Matt Strawn saidreuters.com.
Powerball winning numbers 2025
Powerball announced the winning numbers as 4‑25‑31‑52‑59 with the red Powerball 19reuters.com. The numbers were drawn just before midnight. The odds of selecting the correct combination of five white balls and one red Powerball are a staggering 1 in 292.2 millionabc7ny.com. Eight additional players across the country matched all five white balls to win $1 million eachfoxbusiness.com, while hundreds more collected smaller prizes. Tickets cost $2 and are sold in 45 states as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islandsfortune.com.
Largest lottery jackpot 2025
Although enormous, the Arkansas Christmas jackpot falls just short of the record $2.04 billion Powerball prize won in California in 2022. It edges past September 2025’s $1.787 billion jackpot split between Missouri and Texas, making the Dec. 24 drawing the biggest single‑ticket win of 2025abc7ny.com. Powerball’s top‑ten list also includes jackpots of $1.326 billion (April 2024) and $842 million (January 2024)abc7ny.com. Organizers note that big jackpots boost ticket sales and, in turn, raise revenue for state programs supporting education and other public servicesabc7ny.com. Because more than half of every ticket sold stays in the state where it was purchased, Arkansas’ education scholarship fund and other causes stand to benefit alongside the mystery winner.
As the world waits for the claimant to come forward, the holiday miracle underscores both the appeal of long‑shot dreams and the importance of responsible play. With the next drawing resetting to $20 millionfoxbusiness.com, Powerball fever continues—but for one Arkansan, Christmas 2025 will forever be remembered as the night lightning struck.
