North Carolina Powerball Player Who Missed $1.2B Jackpot by One Number Says He’ll Buy a Home With $2 Million Win
Daryl Steinhoff, 68, matched five white balls in the Sept. 1 drawing and used the Power Play to double his prize; he received $1.44 million after taxes
Daryl Steinhoff, a 68-year-old resident of Clayton, North Carolina, said he plans to buy a house after claiming a $2 million Powerball prize that he won by matching the five white balls in the Sept. 1 drawing but missing the red Powerball by one number.
Steinhoff told the Tar Heel State Lottery he used "family numbers" on his ticket and paid an extra dollar for the Power Play option, which doubled his $1 million prize to $2 million. He said he first learned he had won when he received an email alert the morning after the drawing, and that he called his daughter and his girlfriend in disbelief. Steinhoff claimed the prize at the North Carolina Education Lottery headquarters in Raleigh and posed with a ceremonial check. After federal and state taxes, his payout totaled about $1.44 million.
The winning numbers in the Sept. 1 drawing were 8, 23, 25, 40 and 53, with Powerball 5. Several players across the country matched the five white balls. An anonymous ticket purchased at Rosauers Supermarket in Missoula, Montana, also matched the five white balls and, by playing the Power Play, scored a $2 million prize, the Montana Lottery said. Players from Kansas and Texas likewise used Power Play to double their $1 million prizes to $2 million, and 15 other players won $1 million each by matching the five white balls without Power Play.
Powerball’s jackpot had been building through a historic run of drawings. The top prize continued to climb after the Sept. 1 drawing and was ultimately won on Sept. 6 by two ticket holders from Missouri and Texas who split a nearly $1.79 billion jackpot. That prize was advertised as an annuitized amount of $895 million paid over 29 years; the alternative lump-sum payout was listed as roughly $410.3 million before taxes. The string of drawings between jackpot wins reached a record 42, from May 31 through Sept. 6, during the multi-month roll.
State lotteries typically report that prizes for matching five white balls are paid at the $1 million level and are doubled if the player adds Power Play. Winners must follow state procedures to claim prizes and payments are subject to federal and, where applicable, state taxes. In North Carolina, Steinhoff completed the claim process at the lottery headquarters and received the remaining proceeds after required withholdings.
Steinhoff’s decision to come forward and the appearance at the state lottery headquarters follow common practice for larger prize claims, though some winners choose to remain anonymous where state laws allow. The distribution of several five-white-ball winners in the Sept. 1 drawing meant multiple seven-figure payouts even as the top jackpot continued to grow for subsequent drawings.
Lottery officials in the affected states confirmed the prize claims and the locations where certain tickets were purchased, underlining the wide geographic spread of high-tier winners from the Sept. 1 draw. The cluster of $1 million and $2 million winners highlighted the impact of Power Play on secondary prizes and the broader payout structure that accompanies multimillion-dollar jackpot runs.
Steinhoff said his immediate plans include purchasing a home. He declined to outline further financial plans publicly beyond expressing excitement and gratitude after realizing the winning ticket matched all five white numbers. Lottery officials continue to process claims and confirm winners from the series of drawings that produced multiple large secondary prizes amid the record-setting jackpot run.