Record Jackpot: Winner-Take-All

State lottery officials waited Thursday to meet the holder of the only winning ticket to a national-record jackpot, a $46-million prize that will mean $1.77 million a year for the next 26 years.

Only one ticket bought during a statewide epidemic of lottery fever had seven of the 11 numbers picked Wednesday night in Pennsylvania’s Super 7 drawing, lottery officials said.

It was not known if the ticket belonged to an individual or group. Lottery spokeswoman Jane Shafer said the winner has one year to have the ticket validated and collect the first installment.

A record-setting sales pace Wednesday pushed the jackpot past the national-record $41 million paid out in New York on Aug. 21, 1985. Three winning tickets were sold in that game.

The largest prize awarded to one person, $40 million, went to Michael Wittkowski of Chicago in a 1984 Illinois game.

Pennsylvania Lottery officials said a state record 27,662,192 tickets were sold for $1 each. The odds of picking all 7 numbers were 1 in 9,626,413.

The jackpot had been building each week since Sept. 9, when two players shared $10 million.

The winning numbers were 6, 7, 10, 13, 19, 35, 55, 64, 65, 74 and 79. To win, players needed 7 of the 11 numbers, drawn from a pool of numbers, 1 to 80.