Reedley lottery player misses $707 million Powerball jackpot by one number

A Powerball ticket sold in Reedley won $809,204 after missing the estimated $707 million jackpot by one number, and California draw-game winners usually have 180 days to claim their prize. Powerball jackpot winners get up to one year, but this Reedley ticket fell under the shorter claim window, a reminder for Fresno County residents checking their Aug. 1 numbers.

The winning numbers in the Saturday, Aug. 1 drawing were 6, 17, 27, 48 and 50, with Powerball 5. No ticket matched all six numbers, and the Reedley player landed just short of the astronomical top prize. Even so, the ticket turned into a six-figure win that would have been life-changing in any neighborhood from downtown Reedley to the rest of the Central Valley.

The near-miss briefly put Reedley in the middle of a national jackpot story. A town better known for its farms, small businesses and close-knit blocks suddenly had one of the luckiest tickets in California, turning an ordinary local purchase into a headline-grabbing result. For a few hours, Reedley was the place where the giant Powerball chase felt personal.

California Lottery rules matter for anyone sorting through their own tickets now. Most draw-game prizes must be postmarked or received by Lottery offices within 180 days of the winning draw date. For bigger claims, Lottery district offices can help with prizes of $600 or more, and prizes of $1,000 or less are eligible for same-day payment at those offices from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The Powerball page later listed the next jackpot at $786 million, a sign of how quickly the game rolls over when nobody matches all six numbers. For Reedley, though, the story was already fixed: one ticket, one number away, and a local win that turned a Fresno County town into a temporary stop on the national jackpot map.