WI Couple Claim Half of $632.6 Million Powerball Prize
Winning half of the seventh-largest jackpot in Powerball history is "a wonderful blessing," said Cliff Webster, as he and wife Tammy stepped forward to claim their share of the the huge prize they shared with a ticket in California in January.
The Websters, who live in Oneida, in Brown County in northeastern Wisconsin, became overnight multimillionaires when they won $316.3 million last month by matching all six numbers drawn on Wednesday, January 5: 6, 14, 25, 33, 46, and the red Powerball 17.
The couple bought their lucky ticket at the Jackson Pointe Citgo, 2710 Packerland Drive, in neighboring Green Bay, and the retailer was paid a $100,000 bonus by the Lottery. At the time of the win, the store's manager said her heart was racing and she had goosebumps.
The Websters decided to take their winnings as a lump sum with a cash value of $225.1 million rather than an annuity. Their take-home amount was $153.9 million after tax withholdings - $54 million in federal taxes and $17.2 million in state taxes.
The couple, who are both members of the Oneida Nation of Native Americans, expressed their excitement at the life-changing win. "This is a wonderful blessing, and we are incredibly thankful and most appreciative of this opportunity," Cliff said. "We are sincerely grateful for this incredible event," said Tammy. "We always believed that we had a chance to win if we played and this is a dream come true."
Wisconsin Lottery Director Cindy Polzin congratulated the lucky winners and highlighted the number of recent wins in the state. "I could not be more thrilled for the Websters! It was very exciting to celebrate their win with them," she said. "It's incredible that we get to keep celebrating big wins in our state. This is the fourth major jackpot won in the past four years in WINsconsin."
Wisconsin's lucky reputation has grown from the fact that the state is the fourth most-frequent location for Powerball jackpot wins throughout the country, with WI tickets taking home 19 top prizes since the game started in 1992. Local players have won three Powerball and one Mega Millions jackpots since 2019.
The biggest was a $768.4 million Powerball prize won by Manual Franco in March 2019. The jackpot was the second-highest in the game's history, and the fourth-largest US lottery jackpot of all time. 24-year-old Franco said he had a "weird, lucky feeling" before he bought the ticket at Speedway in New Berlin.
More recently, a winner from the Menomonie region shared his $22 million Powerball prize won in June 2020 with an old friend, keeping a promise made decades earlier. The lucky ticket was sold by Synergy Coop Exit 45 in Menomonie.
Your next chance to take home the Powerball jackpot is on Wednesday, February 9 - the top prize is an estimated $158 million. Get your tickets now for your chance to win.
Published: Tuesday, February 8, 2022Updated: Tuesday, February 8, 2022