Kentucky Powerball Winners Waste No Time Redeeming $167.3 Million Jackpot

Posted on: May 2, 2025, 12:42h. 

Last updated on: May 1, 2025, 03:00h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.
  • The April 26 Powerball drawing jackpot hit in Kentucky
  • The winners came forward two days later
  • They now must choose between a pretax $167.3 million paid out over 29 years or a cash option of $77.3 million

The lucky winners of the $167.3 million ($77.3 million cash) Powerball jackpot hit during the Saturday, April 26, drawing wasted little time in coming forward to redeem their prize in Kentucky.

Kentucky Powerball lottery winners
Linda Grizzle and her son, Shannon Farthing, pose with their Powerball jackpot check. The mom and son won the lottery game’s top prize during the April 26 drawing. (Image: Kentucky Lottery)

On Monday, the same day that the Kentucky Lottery Headquarters in Louisville opened after the weekend, Linda Grizzle and her son, Shannon Farthing, both of Georgetown, presented the winning ticket with the five white drawn balls of 1-12-14-18-69, and the red Powerball of 2. The mom and son play the lottery, including Powerball, regularly.

It’s going to be a good Mother’s Day. This is going to pay off my debt. I would have never dreamed it. It hasn’t sunken in yet,” Grizzle said.

Typically, major winners of Powerball and Mega Millions take considerable time before coming forward. They often meet with financial and legal advisors before claiming their prize.

In Kentucky, however, lottery rules allow winners to come forward to secure their ticket. They are then given 60 days to determine whether to take the immediate cash payout or the full value of the jackpot paid out over 30 annual payments.

Grizzle and Farthing, who say they will split the prize equally, told lottery reps they’ll now meet with a financial advisor to decide which payout is in their best interests. Most major jackpot winners opt for the one-time cash option, though higher interest rates have made the choice a bit harder in recent years.

If Grizzle and Farthing choose the cash, the $77.3 million would be reduced to $48.7 million after federal taxes. Kentucky would then take 4% to further reduce the net payout to $45.6 million.

Kentucky Powerball Jackpots 

The Kentucky Lottery was among the original participating jurisdictions when Powerball launched in April 1992. Over the past 33 years, players in Kentucky have hit the interstate lottery game’s jackpot 19 times.

Last weekend’s Powerball jackpot was the richest ever won in Kentucky. The previous mark was a $128.6 million jackpot, also won by a ticket sold in Georgetown, in December 2009.

Kentucky Lottery President and CEO Mary Harville said she’s ecstatic that the Bluegrass State has a Powerball jackpot winner after a more than 15-year drought. Harville said in the Kentucky Lottery’s release that she is asked constantly by players when a ticket in Kentucky is going to hit Powerball’s top prize.

The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are one in more than 292.2 million. The Clark’s Pump N Shop at 490 Connector Rd., where Grizzle and Farthing purchased the winning play, received a commission prize of $37K.

$100K Prize Claimed at Last Minute

In Massachusetts, a woman nearly failed to redeem a winning $100K Mass Cash ticket. Last month, a news story ran across local television stations regarding an outstanding $100K winning ticket as the time to redeem the play neared its end.

Margot Garstka of Chicopee said her son tipped her off about her having a Mass Cash ticket in her junk drawer. When they looked, the ticket matched the winning numbers of 6-11-18-24-25.

The ticket hit the drawing on May 1, 2024. In Massachusetts, Mass Cash and other draw game prize winners have one year from the date of the drawing to claim their prize. Garstka collected her $100K (before taxes) on April 15, 2025.