Few spectacles rouse the interest of the thrice-weekly national Powerball lottery drawing that usually features a jackpot hovering in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
It’s also true there’s a longstanding connection between Missouri and the lottery provider, with the Show Me State producing the second-most Powerball winners of any state in the country.
With National Lottery Day coming July 17, we decided to take a break from covering Missouri sports betting issues to look at the states that have had the most luck winning the Powerball. BetMissouri.com utilized Powerball.com’s Media Center to gather the 10 states with the most residents who have won the lottery.
Luckiest Lottery States
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Where Missouri Ranks For Powerball Winners
Missouri’s raw number of Powerball winners is jaw-dropping, with 31 hailing from the state.
That figure ranks second nationally, behind Indiana’s 39 winners and ahead of other states like Minnesota, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
Of the state’s Powerball winners, the most ever won by a single Missourian was $587.5 million by Cindy and Mark Hill at the Trex Mart in Dearborn on Nov. 28, 2012. Four other winners have taken home at least $200 million as part of their jackpot winnings.
Missouri’s most recent Powerball winner was Tom Rea, who took home the $70 million jackpot on July 4, 2015 — hitting the magic numbers at a Gas Mart in St. Louis.
To put the Show Me State’s winning figures in greater perspective, even though Missouri ranks second nationally behind Indiana in terms of the raw number of Powerball winners, the Show Me State’s five $200 million winners are two more than the Hoosier State.
Maybe residents play the lottery so much because there are no legal Missouri betting apps.
Author
Christopher Boan is a lead writer for BetMissouri.com, specializing in covering state issues. He has covered sports and sports betting in Arizona for more than seven years, including stops at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.
