One lucky Arkansas lottery player has walked away with a massive $250.8m Powerball jackpot. Although the prize pales compared to December's state-record-breaking Powerball jackpot of $1.8bn, it is significant because it is the largest ever prize won via DraftKings' Jackpocket mobile app.
The app offers a digital lottery courier service, which is becoming an increasingly popular option across the country.
Digital lottery sales and courier services
Although lotteries, including the multi-state Powerball and local state lotteries, are popular across the US, many states still prohibit the sale of lottery tickets online.
The reasons given are that online sales encourage underage gambling as well as an increased likelihood of problem gambling due to the ease of acquiring tickets.
However, proponents of online ticket sales argue that it is more convenient for players and that modern verification checks are highly effective at preventing underage gambling.
Enter lottery couriers – services that physically purchase lottery tickets on behalf of players before scanning and uploading tickets to players' accounts.
The service also securely stores tickets, although players must still be legally allowed to play the game. They must meet strict age requirements and be located in a state where players are permitted to take part in the lottery in question.
While some states have taken tentative moves to prohibit these services, they have become increasingly popular.
DraftKings' Jackpocket service
One such service is Jackpocket. Jackpocket was founded in 2013 and bought by DraftKings in 2024. According to the app's website, it operates in 15 states, as well as D.C. and Puerto Rico.
The service takes a commission at the point of sale and does not take any winning commission, which means the lucky Arkansas player will net the full $250.8m prize, if they choose the annuity jackpot.
In so doing, they will also break the record for the highest total paid out to a Jackpocket player.
Although it ranks among the biggest lottery prizes in the country, it is dwarfed by some significant Powerball wins.
Other big Powerball wins
More than a dozen winners have pocketed more than a billion dollars in the last 10 years. The biggest ever recorded prize was $2.04bn by a player who picked up their ticket at a Los Angeles gas station.
And, also in Arkansas, one player won a $1.8bn Powerball jackpot last December. The player, who chose to remain anonymous, opted to forego the full total, which would have been paid as an annuity over 29 years, and instead took an $835m one-off payment.
This most recent win came on March 2, and the winner has the option of collecting a $250.8m prize paid over 29 years or a $118m lump sum. It is the second Powerball jackpot win of the year after a North Carolina player scooped a $209.3m jackpot in January.
The Powerball, which launched in 1992, is a multi-jurisdictional lottery played in 45 states, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. The game has generated nearly $40bn of revenue for good causes and charities since its inception.
