truesee's Blog

Somebody left $77 million on the table.

A winning Powerball ticket, sold in west Georgia last summer, expired Monday after no one came forward to claim the jackpot, a Georgia Lottery spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Kimberly Starks said it was "the largest unclaimed ticket in Georgia" since the lottery began in 1993.

The winning ticket, with the numbers 24, 30, 45, 57 and 59 and the “Power Ball” of 26, was sold June 29 at the Pilot Travel Center truck stop along I-20 in Tallapoosa. Players have 180 days to claim their prize.

The unclaimed money will be returned proportionately to each participating state based on that state’s sales for the particular drawing, lottery spokeswoman Tandi Reddick said. Powerball is played in 32 states and the District of Columbia.

Reddick said that in Georgia, unclaimed prize money goes back into the prize pool for future games and for special prize promotions, and is ultimately paid out to players.

The current estimated jackpot for Wednesday's drawing is $20 million after a winning ticket was sold Saturday in Maryland.

The other multi-state lottery, Mega Millions, currently has a $206 million jackpot for Tuesday night's drawing.