Holiday jackpot: Powerball could make a billionaire this week
Powerball’s jackpot hits $1.25 billion, the sixth-largest ever, marking rare back-to-back billion-dollar prizes just before Christmas.
Scripps News
After the Dec. 15 Powerball drawing saw no winners, people across the country are getting ready for their next chance to take home a massive jackpot just before the holidays.
The next Powerball for the $1.25 billion jackpot will take place around 11 p.m. Eastern time Dec. 17. It is the second-largest Powerball jackpot in 2025 after the $1.787 billion prize won in September, according to the Kentucky Lottery.
The Powerball numbers for the Dec. 15 drawing were 23-35-59-63-68 and the Powerball was 2. The Power Play was 4x. Though no one claimed the jackpot, a winning ticket worth $50,000 was sold in Kentucky, lottery officials said.
The Dec. 15 winning ticket, along with seven others sold in Kentucky throughout 2025 with prizes ranging from $50,000 to $100,000, remain unclaimed, according to a Dec. 16 news release.
Here’s a look at the previous Kentucky Powerball winners:
With a ticket worth $2.5 million, William and Pearlene McGaughey were the last Louisville residents to take home a Powerball jackpot in November 1999.
The McGaugheys, who lived in Okolona, split a $10 million jackpot with another winner in Nebraska, according to previous Courier Journal reporting.
William McGaughey, then 71, had stopped at a Tobacco Road store on Shepherdsville Road and used $5 to buy five quick-pick tickets. He missed the televised drawing and discovered he won the next morning while reading the paper.
Tobacco Road cashier Amy Ashmore told The Courier Journal that McGaughey was “shaking like a leaf” when he handed her the ticket to check the numbers.
“I have never won anything except jackpots at the bowling alley,” he said.
McGaughey said he planned to use some of the money to secure the future of his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He also wanted to give some of it to his church, Highview Baptist. The McGaugheys told The Courier Journal they may take a trip since they hadn’t been on vacation in seven years.
McGaughey said he did not expect to change his lifestyle after winning but might buy a new bowling ball or shirt.
- Dec. 26, 2009: Rob Anderson Jr., of Georgetown, won $128.6 million.
- Jan. 24, 1996: Kent Miller, of Madison, Tennessee, won $89.3 million.
- April 19, 2000: Melvin Rhodes and family, of Clinton, Tennessee, won $80 million.
- Aug. 25, 2001: David Edwards, of Westwood, won $73.8 million.
- July 22, 2000: Mack Metcalf, of Florence, Kentucky, and Virginia Metcalf, of Dayton, Kentucky, won $65.4 million.
- April 20, 1994: Brenda Knopp, of Bloomfield, won $64.2 million.
- Sept. 27, 2007: The Nukote 22, of Bardstown, won $61.5 million.
- May 27, 2000: James Christian, of Burns, Tennessee; Ronnie Mays, of Lavergne, Tennessee; Andy Perry, of Mt. Juliet, Tennessee; and Mike Aldrerice, of Lewisburg, Tennessee, won $60.6 million.
- June 18, 1997: Andy Davidson, of Evansville, Indiana, won $57.5 million.
- July 20, 2002: Richard Barbella, of Lexington, won $41.5 million.
- Dec. 16, 1995: James and William Draper and Phyllis Newton, of LaCenter, won $33.7 million.
- Dec. 12, 2007: Linville Huff, of Shepherdsville, won $33.6 million.
- Oct. 26, 1996: Gwen Howard and Robert Mayton, of Calhoun, won $28.2 million.
- Aug. 13, 1996: Henry Fugate and Thelma Fourtney, of Fisty, won $22.9 million.
- Dec. 11, 2010: Muncie Meade, of Simpsonville, won $19.12 million.
- June 19, 2002: Joe and Lili Anderson, of Murray, won $14 million.
- July 16, 2003: Alva Osborne, of Shepherdsville, won $13.5 million.
