One ticket. Six matched numbers. A Powerball draw that flipped a routine Monday night into a headline moment — with a jackpot win now tied to Arkansas and a prize valued at $251 million.
Arkansas ticket matches all six for $251 million jackpot
Powerball officials reported that a single ticket sold in Arkansas matched all five white balls plus the red Powerball in the drawing held on Monday, March 2, 2026. The result: the full jackpot hit, and the game’s top prize immediately reset for the next scheduled draw.
As of the latest update referenced in the reporting, the jackpot winner had not yet claimed the prize. Once claimed, the winner typically faces a major choice between taking the payout as an annuity spread over time or as a reduced one-time cash option.
March 2, 2026 Powerball winning numbers
The winning numbers for the March 2 drawing were 2, 17, 18, 38, 62, and the Powerball was 20. The Power Play multiplier for the night was 2x.
Beyond the jackpot, another notable top-tier win was also reported: a ticket sold in Puerto Rico landed the Match 5 + Power Play prize valued at $2 million.
Cash option and annuity choice
The stated jackpot value is based on the annuity structure. The same reporting noted an estimated one-time cash value of about $118 million before taxes, if the winner chooses the lump sum instead of the long-term annuity route. The final take-home amount can vary depending on federal and state tax treatment and the winner’s filing situation.
Next Powerball drawing date and new jackpot
With the jackpot hit, Powerball’s top prize reset to $20 million ahead of the next drawing on Wednesday, March 4, 2026, scheduled for 11 p.m. ET. The cash value attached to that starting jackpot was listed at about $9.4 million.
Who can play Powerball
You don’t have to be a U.S. citizen to buy a Powerball ticket. Anyone who is physically in a participating jurisdiction can purchase a ticket regardless of nationality, as long as they meet the legal age requirement at the point of purchase and buy from an authorized retailer.
Powerball is offered across 45 U.S. states and also in Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The listed non-participating states are Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, and Utah.
The odds and what a jackpot hit really means
Powerball officials place the odds of winning the jackpot at 1 in 292,201,338. Even smaller headline prizes require long odds: the chance of hitting a $1 million Powerball ticket is listed at about 1 in 11,688,053.52. Those numbers explain why a single jackpot winner instantly becomes a national story — and why rollovers can keep building for weeks or months when no one lands all six numbers.
States with the most Powerball jackpot winners
Over the game’s history, some states have piled up more jackpot wins than others. Previous reporting referenced Indiana, Missouri, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin among the leaders for the most Powerball jackpot winners.
Biggest Powerball jackpots on record
The $251 million Arkansas win sits below the all-time giants, but it still lands as a major jackpot by normal standards. Recent record-sized prizes have stretched into the billions, with the top tier including jackpots such as $2.040 billion (Nov. 7, 2022) and $1.817 billion (Dec. 24, 2025). The modern Powerball era has made those massive totals possible when long rollovers collide with elevated ticket demand.
How to play Powerball
Powerball tickets cost $2 per play. Players choose five white-ball numbers from 1 to 69 and one red Powerball number from 1 to 26. For an additional $1, the Power Play option multiplies non-jackpot prizes by a multiplier that can range from 2x up to 10x depending on the draw. If you don’t want to pick numbers, Quick Pick lets the system generate them automatically.
For official game rules, current jackpot details, and draw information, you can also refer to the official Powerball website.
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Powerball winning numbers March 2, 2026: $249M jackpot results
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