$50,000 Louisiana Powerball Ticket Unclaimed & is Now Worthless
Someone in St. Amant is going to be really crying in their gumbo when they see this news. They just missed out on $50,000. The Louisiana Lottery says the ticket, purchased at Fisherman's One Stop on LA 22 in St. Amant in Ascension Parish expired on Thursday.
Louisiana Lottery spokesperson Dustin Annison says it's actually common for prizes to go unclaimed.
“Most are going to be your lower tier prize, such as when you win $4 if you match the Powerball in Powerball or $2 when you match the Mega ball in Mega Millions,” said Annison.
Lottery officials say they don't know what happened with the person who bought the winning $50,000 ticket. Annison says it's possible the player simply gave up hope when they saw they didn't match all the numbers.
“So they put the ticket aside and forget about it or throw it away thinking it’s not a winner, but it’s important to check your ticket after every drawing, because there is always more than one way to win,” said Annison.
Annison said any expired prize money is deposited into an unclaimed prize fund that eventually gets returned to players.
“Which is then returned to players in the form of increased payouts on instant win games and player promotions,” said Annison.
The current Powerball Jackpot is $572,000,000 with a Cash Payout of $308,908,000. The drawing is Saturday night, January 28th.