The winner of the $1.7 billion Powerball jackpot's reported winning strategy has been revealed.

Nidal 'Andy' Khalil, the co-owner of Midway Market & Liquor in Frazier Park, California, where the winning ticket was purchased, the Sun that jackpot winner Theodorus Struyck "came in to buy tickets once or twice a week" and would commonly buy "quick pick" tickets, rather than choosing numbers on his own.

"I opened Facebook and news was blowing up from the area. Then I started getting calls from the news and all that," said Khalil, whose business received a $1 million check for selling the winning ticket. "The lottery contacted me, then they came and took the CCTV.

"I watched the video, but it was hard to tell [who it was] as so many people bought in that minute. I heard it was a $2 quick pick."

Struyck, 65, was identified as the representative for the group who purchased the winning ticket for the $1.7 billion Powerball jackpot, the second-largest in the game's history, by the California Lottery in a press release shared on March 16. The grandfather is a resident of the small mountain town which has a population of approximately 3,000.

The October 11, 2023, drawing was the 36th draw for that Powerball sequence, which allowed the California Lottery to raise an additional $119.5 million for public schools.

“Announcing big wins like this gives all of our players the chance to hope and dream that they could be next,” said California Lottery Director Harjinder K. Shergill Chima. “But it also gives us an opportunity to shine the spotlight on our terrific mission, which is to generate additional, supplemental funding for public education in California. So, it’s students of all ages across the state, who win every day thanks to our players, our retail partners who sell these fun games, and our hard-working staff here at the Lottery. This is an exciting day for all of us!"

The results from the October 11, 2023 Powerball game are listed below:

NUMBERS: 22-24-40-52-64

POWERBALL: 10

POWER PLAY: 2x

The Powerball jackpot had previously reset to $20 million after one player in Los Angeles won the $1.08 billion drawing on July 19 when a ticket purchased at Las Palmitas Mini Market near the Fashion District matched all five white numbers and the red Powerball. The July 19, 2023, drawing was the third-largest in the game's history and the seventh-largest in U.S. lottery history at the time.

Prior to that, the Powerball jackpot reset to $20 million after one player in Ohio won the $253 million drawing on April 19, which followed back-to-back Mega Millions jackpots on April 18 and April 14. One player in California had previously matched all six numbers to win the $2.04 billion ($997.6 million) jackpot on November 7, the largest jackpot offered in U.S. lottery history, according to the official Powerball website.

Both the Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots increase during each following game until there's a jackpot winning ticket matching all six numbers drawn, which includes the additional Mega Millions Gold Ball or Powerball in each respective game.

Loraine Ballard Morrill

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