Kentucky (FOX 56) — Kentucky isn’t known for raking in the jackpots, but a handful of people have walked away with a life-changing sum.
In 2022, the Kentucky Lottery spent over $1 billion on Kentucky Lottery games. with the historic $1.34 billion megamillions jackpot and $2.04 billion jackpot on the line, it made sense people were shelling out money.
According to Powerball, there is a 1 in 292.2 million chance to win a Powerball jackpot. You have a greater chance of getting struck by lightning — less than 1 in a million, according to the CDC — than getting all six numbers right in a Powerball drawing.
RELATED:
- The lottery: Which states’ residents spend the most on tickets and scratch-offs?
- Kentucky man wins $115,600 lottery draw using numbers of his birth date
- Kentuckians spent over $1 billion on the lottery in 2022, which counties spent the most?
- How did a Maryland man hit the lottery twice? It’s all in the hair, he says
- Kentucky woman thought lottery instant win was a scam
You can increase your chances by buying more tickets. As Springfield College Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science Andrew Perry explained to Nexstar’s WWLP, buying 100 tickets would cut your odds to about 1 in 2.92 million instead of 1 in 292.2 million.
Only five states have never one a jackpot: Utah, Nevada, Hawaii, Alaska, and Alabama. Kentucky has had 18 Powerball winners since 1995 when three people in LaCenter split a $33.7 million jackpot. No one in Kentucky has won a Mega Millions jackpot.
1. Rob Anderson Jr. — Georgetown, Dec. 26, 2009, $128.6 MILLION
2. Kent Miller — Madison, Tennessee, Jan. 24, 1996, $89.3 MILLION
3. Melvin Rhodes & Family — Clinton, Tennessee, April 19, 2000, $80 MILLION
4. David Edwards — Westwood, Aug. 25, 2001, $73.8 MILLION
5. Mack Metcalf — Florence & Virginia Metcalf — Dayton, July 22, 2000, $65.4 MILLION
6. Brenda Knopp — Bloomfield, April 20, 1994, $64.2 MILLION
7. The Nukote 22 — Bardstown, Sept. 27,2007 $61.5 MILLION
8. James Christian — Burns, Tennessee, May 27, 2000, $60.6 MILLION
Ronnie Mays — Lavergne, Tennessee
Andy Perry — Mt. Juliet, Tennessee
Mike Aldrerice — Lewisburg, Tennessee
9. Andy Davidson — Evansville, Indiana, June 18, 1997, $57.5 MILLION
10. Richard Barbella — Lexington, July 20, 2002, $41.5 MILLION
11. James & William Draper & Phyllis Newton — LaCenter, Dec. 16, 1995, $33.7 MILLION
12. Linville Huff — Shepherdsville, Dec. 12, 2007, $33.6 MILLION
13. Gwen Howard & Robert Mayton — Calhoun, Oct. 26, 1996, $28.2 MILLION
14. Henry Fugate & Thelma Fourtney — Fisty, Aug. 13, 1996, $22.9 MILLION
15. Muncie Meade — Simpsonville, Dec. 11, 2010, $19.12 MILLION
16. Joe & Lili Anderson — Murray, June 19, 2002, $14 MILLION
17. Alva Osborne — Shepherdsville, July 16, 2003, $13.5 MILLION
18. William & Pearlene McGaughey — Louisville, Nov. 3, 1999, $5 MILLION