So Close! Iowa Powerball Players Just One Number Shy of Jackpot!

For weeks, all we heard about was one of the largest Powerball jackpots in history. On Saturday night, a prize of $1.8 billion was up for grabs. I had my tickets ready to go, just like millions of others across Iowa and the U.S. While my tickets didn't win me any life-changing money, a couple of Iowa Powerball players came up agonizingly close to winning the second-largest jackpot in lottery history.

I woke up Sunday morning to discover that two Powerball tickets, one sold in Missouri and one in Texas, had won it big. They would share the $1.8 billion jackpot. Good for them. I hope they are deserving and put the money to good use. The winning numbers in case you missed them, were 11-23-44-61-62, and the Powerball was 17. Maybe you won five bucks, maybe you won $100. KCCI reports that Iowans won over $560,000 in prizes on Saturday night. But two Iowans are banging their heads against a wall, knowing just how close they came to hitting the jackpot.

According to KCCI, two Iowa Powerball players almost hit it big. They matched four of the first five numbers and the Powerball. They came up ONE number short of winning $1.8 billion. Unreal. The 'almost' winning tickets were sold in Burlington and Coralville. Their consultation prize? A cool $50,000. Yes, that is a fun amount of money to have suddenly...but so is $1.8 billion!

So what happens now? The Powerball jackpot goes back to a measly $20 million for Monday's drawing. And the rest of the world goes back to work. Those Powerball dreams will have to wait.