Biggest Powerball jackpots ever, and can Canadians play?

A ticket sold in Cabot, Ark., won a US$1.817 billion Powerball jackpot on Dec. 24, 2025, the second-largest Powerball prize ever, and the game is not sold in Canada, according to the lottery’s own list of where tickets are available.

This page was checked on Nov. 3, 2026. Lottery odds are extremely long, a ticket is never an investment, and anyone who plays should spend only what they can afford to lose.

The Arkansas Scholarship Lottery said the winning ticket was sold at a Murphy USA station at 208 S. Rockwood in Cabot, according to a Dec. 30, 2025 release on Powerball.com. The winning numbers were 4, 25, 31, 52 and 59, with a Powerball of 19. The cash option was US$834.9 million before taxes. The winner has since come forward and chose the lump sum, and the lottery said the person will remain anonymous, Fox Business reported on Jan. 23. Arkansas law lets winners stay anonymous for up to three years.

The Arkansas prize sits behind only a US$2.04 billion jackpot won in California on Nov. 7, 2022, according to Yahoo News. The same report lists a US$1.787 billion jackpot from Sept. 6, 2025, which was split between tickets sold in Missouri and Texas, with each winner taking a cash option of US$410.3 million.

The next-largest Powerball prize is a US$1.765 billion jackpot from Oct. 11, 2023, sold at a market in Frazier Park, Calif., Yahoo News reported. A US$1.586 billion jackpot on Jan. 13, 2016, was shared by three tickets sold in California, Florida and Tennessee, according to an ABC News list.

The odds of winning a Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million on every ticket, no matter how large the prize grows, Powerball says. Players pick five white balls from 1 to 69 and one red Powerball from 1 to 26. Jackpots are quoted as annuity values paid over 30 years, and the cash option is much smaller.

Powerball is currently sold in 48 U.S. lotteries, including the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, and it is due to begin selling in the United Kingdom on July 21, 2026, according to Powerball’s FAQ page. Canada is not on that list. The game’s operator says internet sales are limited to residents of the jurisdiction where tickets are sold and that cross-border online and mail sales are restricted.

Canadian law is also clear on one side of the question. Section 206 of the Criminal Code makes it an offence to sell or offer for sale tickets in a lottery scheme, and its provisions on foreign lotteries cover advertising or selling their tickets in Canada, according to the Justice Laws website. In practice, that means a Canadian website, store or ticket-buying service offering Powerball tickets here raises legal and consumer-protection risks. We are not giving legal advice, and readers who have a question should check with their provincial gaming regulator or a lawyer.

Powerball itself says people do not have to be U.S. citizens or residents to play. Visitors can buy tickets from licensed retailers in a jurisdiction where the game is sold, and prizes must be claimed in the place where the ticket was bought. Anyone who travels should confirm the local rules and the age limit first.

Canadian players have their own national draws. Our report on the record $90-million Lotto Max jackpot won in Alberta in October shows how those games work, and we publish Canadian lottery results as they are announced.

The next Powerball drawing is Wednesday, Nov. 4, with an estimated jackpot of US$835 million, according to LotteryUSA. If gambling is causing you or someone close to you harm, provincial problem-gambling helplines and counselling services offer free, confidential help.

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Sources: Powerball.com release (Dec. 30, 2025), Powerball FAQ and prize chart, Fox Business (Jan. 23, 2026), Yahoo News, ABC News list (July 2023), Justice Laws website (Criminal Code s. 206), LotteryUSA. Featured photo: a Powerball and Mega Millions billboard in Missouri, 2017, file photo; Tony Webster, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.