Top 10 Powerball Lotto Prizes

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lotto_roLotto fever grips the world at such peak times, when the jackpot displayed by one of the giants of the American lottery reaches colossal values. Each such prize creates new millionaires and new stories, some successful, others with a less optimistic ending. One of America's favorite lottery games, Powerball plays a major role in the history of world lottery. Its name frequently appears in the rankings of the largest prizes ever won, and the stories of new Powerball lottery millionaires are the subject of numerous media headlines.

1. $590.5 million – May 18, 2013
Gloria MacKenzie is the lucky American woman who won the largest Powerball prize in history. Although this jackpot failed to surpass the level reached by Mega Millions – America's phone number list second largest lottery – on March 30, 2012, it represented a personal record for Powerball, and also the largest prize in the world won on a single ticket.

2. $587.5 million – November 28, 2012
Two couples have been vying for the second-largest Powerball prize. Mathew Good, from Arizona, initially tried to remain anonymous, but his plans were thwarted by the US tax authorities. Fountain Hill resident Mr. Good said after winning the prize that he would continue working and would start a charity. Mark and Cindy Hill, aged 52 and 51, from Missouri, are the second couple to win $293 million after the results of the US Powerball lottery were announced on November 28, 2012. They have four children and were living on one income when they won the huge Powerball prize.

3. $365 million – February 18, 2006
This prize was won by a group of 8 colleagues from the Con Agra Foods sausage factory in Lincoln, Nebraska. They had a habit of playing the lottery together, and their perseverance finally paid off.

4. $340 million – October 19, 2005
The top jackpot of 2005, the sum of $340 million, managed to change the lives of two related families – the Chaney and West, from the state of Oregon. The four rightful owners of the winning ticket – Robert and Frances Chaney of Jacksonville and Steve and Carolyn West of Medford decided to share their winnings with the rest of their families.

5. $338.3 million – March 23, 2013
An immigrant from the Dominican Republic who has lived in America for 27 years, Pedro Quezada, guessed the numbers 17, 29, 31, 52, 53 and Powerball 31 in the Powerball drawing on March 23, 2013, in March of this year. Upon hearing this news, the young immigrant declared that he would spend the money with his family and that he would not forget his neighbors in New Jersey. The first thing Quezada did with the money he won was to pay off the alimony he owed his ex-wife.

6. $337 million – August 15, 2012
Donald Lawson always knew that fate had some nice surprises in store for him. Winning the lottery was one of his hopes, but when he thought about a big prize, the amount was somewhere around $10,000. But $337 million? He never hoped for something like that. But the numbers 6, 27, 46, 51, 56 and Powerball 21 brought him the unexpected prize.

7. $336.4 million – February 11, 2012
At the time it was won, it was the third-largest prize in Powerball history, but the game has also given out some top jackpots. The $336.4 million remains the largest lottery prize ever won in Rhode Island. The jackpot was claimed by Louise White of Newport on behalf of The Rainbow Sherbert Trust.

8. $314.3 million – August 25, 2007
A colossal sum shared by members of a family in the US state of Ohio, this jackpot has certainly changed the lives of the Coterel family, who have collected $145 million after taxes. David Coterel stopped off somewhere in Indiana to buy Powerball tickets. The $20 he spent seems like a great investment.

9. $276.3 million – March 15, 2008
Another prize won by a workplace union, $276.3 million, was split among eight employees of the Monongalia County Tax Office in West Virginia, who preferred to stay out of the public eye.

10. $261.3 million – July 9, 2003
Here is a record that still stands, even after 10 years. This fabulous sum was shared between two American couples – William and Claudia Walkenbach from Missouri and Scott and Marian Calligan from Pennsylvania. Mrs. Walkenbach said she had purchased the Powerball ticket by chance, just because she had some change left after buying a newspaper. Since the numbers were chosen automatically, we can say that fate worked in favor of the now 62-year-old American.