Two people had winning tickets in the $550 million Powerball jackpot, beating the one in 175 million odds for the second largest lottery in American history, the game’s website said early Thursday.
Powerball’s website crashed shortly after the winning numbers — 5, 23, 16, 22, 29, with Powerball 6 — were announced late Wednesday, as did that of the Multi-State Lottery Association, which oversees Powerball.
Lottery fever in the lead-up to the drawing was such that 160,000 tickets per minute were being sold. The Powerball website said players in Arizona and Missouri had the winning numbers, without providing further information. It was not yet clear if anyone had claimed the prize yet.
Another 8.9 million players won lesser prizes totalling $131 million.
Nobody had won the semi-weekly grand prize for Powerball since October 6, swelling the kitty for whoever holds the winning six-number combination.
Winning numbers, selected every Wednesday and Saturday, are made up of five out of 59 white balls plus one out of 35 red “Powerballs” from which the game gets its name.